KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today as bargain hunting emerged on beaten down stocks yesterday, amid firmer gains in the US stock markets which finished at fresh high levels on reports that the partial US-China trade deal will be signed in January 2020, analysts said.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 2.92 points or 0.18% at 1,572.27 from Monday’s close of 1,569.35.
The index opened 2.52 points higher at 1,1571.87.
Market breadth was positive as gainers overtook losers 152 to 105, while 2,096 counters remained unchanged, 1,535 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 156.22 million shares worth RM71.05 million.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 Index added 0.7% with 10 of the 11 major sectors in the green, while the Nasdaq finished 0.9% higher.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said following the FBM KLCI’s quick profit-taking yesterday, the benchmark index is expected to march higher but with limited gains.
This is due to the foreign funds that continued to offload Malaysian equities which already marked six consecutive weeks of foreign fund outflow.
“We think that the key index will consolidate, ranging between the 1,558-1,579 levels over the foreseeable future.
“In the meantime, the 1,550 level will remain as the key support. Should the 1,579 level be cleared, mild window dressing may spur the key index towards the next resistance located at the 1,590 level,” the stockbroking firm said in a note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM8.54, Tenaga rose four sen to RM13.10, Public Bank was flat at RM18.84, Petronas Chemicals went down five sen to RM7.10 and CIMB added one sen to RM5.27.
Of the actives, JKGLand was half-a-sen better at 8.5 sen, while Ekovest and Rimbunan Sawit declined one sen each to 87.5 sen and 34 sen respectively.
As for top gainers, F&N improved 46 sen to RM33.80, Nestle increased 40 sen to RM144.70 and KLK improved 22 sen to RM24.72.
The FBM Emas Index strengthened 16.66 points to 11,198.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index appreciated 21.68 points to 11,852.35 while the FBMT 100 Index bagged 17.03 points to 10,994.40.
Meanwhile, the FBM Ace advanced 35.50 points to 4,985.84 and the FBM 70 improved 7.80 points to 14,033.45.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 20.89 points to 15,255.70, the Plantation Index recovered 56.50 points to 7,562.57 but the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.35 point to 152.30. – Bernama
