KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher on Friday, taking its cue from Wall Street’s strong overnight performance ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate decision next week.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.09 points to 1,377.73 from 1,374.64 at Thursday’s close.
The key index opened 0.94 points firmer at 1,375.58.
The broader market was positive with advancers leading decliners 175 to 112, while 268 counters were unchanged, 1,688 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover was 310.16 million units worth RM63.66 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the US stock market ended on a high note as investors anticipate a less-hawkish US Fed following the cooling labour market data.
The US Labour Department is set to release the US inflation data on June 13, the first day of the Fed’s meeting.
According to the brokerage, the numbers are expected to show that consumer prices were slightly cooler in May but core prices remained sticky.
“We also noticed that the Hang Seng Futures have turned more positive, hence we expect the positive sentiment to spill over and boost the FBMKLCI in the near term,“ said the brokerage.
Malacca Securities also expect the technology sector to strengthen following the Nasdaq’s advancement overnight and FBM KLCI heavyweights should trend higher in tandem with the global market.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM8.63 and RM6.45, respectively, Public Bank and CIMB increased two sen to RM3.83 and RM4.92 respectively, and Tenaga Nasional gained five sen to RM9.17.
Of the actives, Revenue earned one sen to 27.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated inched up half a sen to 28.5 sen and EP Manufacturing grew nine sen to 83.5 sen, while Sapura Energy and Meta Bright were flat at 3.5 sen and 17 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index perked 25.52 points to 10,149.80, the FBMT 100 Index added 24.83 points to 9,851.28, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 24.48 points higher at 10,474.71, FBM ACE Index went up 3.57 points to 4,974.71, and the FBM 70 Index advanced 45.18 points to 13,394.95.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index improved by 3.10 points to 781.91, the Industrial Products and Services Index garnered 0.19 of-a-point to 157.87, and the Financial Services Index recovered 42.47 points to 15,162.0.
However, the Plantation Index fell 2.96 points to 6,642.04. - Bernama
