KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in cautious trading ahead of the release of US jobs data today.

At 9.21am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was quoted at 1,870.81 points, 0.71 of a point lower, after opening 2.02 points easier at 1,869.5 points.

However, market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 182 to 109, while 163 counters were unchanged, 1,163 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 133.15 million shares worth RM55 million.

RHB Research said the benchmark index gained 12.18 points on Wednesday, before the Labour Day holiday yesterday, which could be an initial sign of the index starting to extend its upward charge after breaking out from the short-term downtrend.

“Judging by the strong upside momentum on Wednesday, the 1,869-level is likely to be violated very soon,” the research house said in a note. “As the daily relative strength index closed at 63.8 level two days ago, it may encourage strong buying activities if a breakout occurs at 1,871 points.”

RHB Research maintained its bullish near-term technical outlook for the benchmark index.

Among heavyweights, Maybank lost 1.0 sen to RM9.89, Public Bank dropped 14 sen to RM20, CIMB was flat at RM7.51, TNB added 2.0 sen to RM11.92 and Axiata gained 1.0 sen to RM6.74.

Of the actives, China Stationery and Sumatec rose 1.0 sen each to 14.5 sen and 27 sen respectively. 1 Utopia was 0.5 sen better at 7.0 sen while Asian Pac eased 1.5 sen to 27 sen.

On the scoreboard, the Plantation Index was down 30.47 points to 9,054.79 points, the Finance Index 14.35 points lower at 17,129.17 points, but the Industrial Index added 3.46 points to 3,193.26 points. The FBM Emas Index fell 5.01 points to 12,935.94, the FBMT100 Index declined 4.92 points to 12,586.71, the FBM 70 lost 6.1 points to 14,069.67 points but the FBM Ace gained 8.92 points to 6,592.59 points. — Bernama