KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened firmer today in tracking the positive corporate results in some US stocks and despite the continued uncertainty over the outlook for the global economy, dealers said.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) strengthened 11.00 points to 1,638.44, from Tuesday’s close of 1,627.44.
The benchmark index opened 6.26 points higher at 1,633.70.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 263 to 77, while 194 counters were unchanged, 1,382 untraded and 31 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 296.22 million shares worth RM204.35 million.
It was reported that among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 was Twitter Inc which rose 13.6%, after posting better-than-expected quarterly revenue and a surprise rise in monthly active users, while Coca-Cola Co rose 2.6% after its quarterly sales beat estimates.
The benchmark S&P 500 ended the day 0.9% higher at 2,933.7 thanks to the best daily gain for healthcare stocks since mid-January and a rally in consumer discretionary and technology shares, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 145.34 points, or 0.6%, to 26,656.39.
Meanwhile, AllianceDBS Research said the ability of the local bourse to keep its position above 1,618 yesterday suggested that market participants were unwilling to see market sentiment deteriorating.
“Investors and traders may be scouting for the next hot stocks to trade, but the buying and selling decisions were not done without the knowledge of risk and reward.
“We should see buying attempts with an immediate hurdle at 1,628. A crossover of 1,628 should see the market gearing towards 1,640.
“We expect the FBM KLCI would likely trade above the 1,629.42 level today,” it said in a research note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank recovered 15 sen to RM9.31, Public Bank gained 12 sen to RM22.72, Petronas Chemicals added four sen to RM8.99, Tenaga rose two sen to RM12.30 and CIMB increased 10 sen to RM5.27.
Maybank and Public Bank were also the top gainers, followed by Top Glove which advanced 11 sen to RM4.87.
For the most active counters, Barakah was up one sen to 10.5 sen, Ekovest shed 1.5 sen to 85.5 sen and Impiana Hotels was flat at 5.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index ticked up 68.25 points to 11,653.79, the FBMT 100 Index was 68.31 points better at 11,467.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 55.03 points to 11,834.55.
The FBM 70 improved 52.64 points to 14,676.84 and the FBM Ace was higher by 11.92 points to 4,764.18.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 140.88 points to 16,958.64, the Plantation Index was 43.61 points higher to 7,235.75 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.55 of-a-point firmer at 170.70.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM163.08 per gramme, down 18 sen from RM163.26 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama
