KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s losses to open higher today, tracking the rebound seen overnight on Wall Street and improved crude oil prices.
At 9.05 am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.34 points to 1,680.94 from Wednesday’s close of 1,672.60.
The index opened 7.11 points higher at 1,679.71.
Market breadth was positive with 274 gainers against 26 losers, while 86 counters were unchanged, 1,498 untraded and 54 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 149.64 million shares worth RM63.53 million.
A dealer said the rally on Wall Street which improved more than four per cent saw a rebound in investors’ confidence.
“The improving Brent crude price which rose about eight per cent to the current level of US$54.35 per barrel also lifted market sentiment,“ he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank gained three sen to RM9.38, Public Bank bagged four sen to RM24.80, Tenaga advanced 12 sen to RM13.66, CIMB rose five sen to RM5.77, while Petronas Chemicals was changed at RM9.19.
Of actives, Hibiscus perked 4.5 sen to 82 sen, Sapura Energy ticked up half-a-sen to 29.5 sen, Bumi Armada increased one sen to 16 sen, while Hubline was flat at four sen.
KESM led the top gainers in rising 22 sen to RM7.80, Allianz strengthened 20 sen to RM12.60, Petronas Gas jumped 14 sen to RM18.90, Top Glove improved 12 sen to RM5.77 and Yinson was 11 sen better at RM4.46.
The FBM Emas Index improved 69.0 points to 11,449.30, the FBMT 100 Index leapt 67.03 points to 11,366.15, the FBM 70 bagged 120.97 points to 12,935.49 and the FBM Ace Index was 63.97 points firmer at 4,238.46.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 80.12 points to 11,404.15.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index climbed 48.93 points to 17,249.86, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.37 of-a-point to 164.89 and the Plantation Index went up 4.27 points to 6,758.93.
Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were untraded in the early session today due to weak interest for the precious metal and amid a quiet market with traders away for the long Christmas and New Year break.
At 9.12 am, December 2018, January 2019, February 2019 and March 2019 were pegged at RM169.30, RM169.30, RM169.40 and RM169.50 per gramme respectively.
Volume was nil, while open interest amounted to 26 contracts.
At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was 13 sen lower at RM165.15 per gramme. — Bernama
