KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 ― Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning on fresh buying support, a dealer said.

At 9.16am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.49 points better at 1,879.54 points, after opening 1.5 points higher at 1,878.55.

Maybank Kim Eng, in a research note, recommended a 'sell on rallies' stance for the local index.

“The KLCI August Futures moved into a 2.55 points discount against the FBM KLCI. We expect weak buying interest at the supports of 1,855 to 1,867, while heavy liquidation will be at the resistances of 1,877 and 1,896.

“As the selling is persistent, the index’s tone has turned bearish and may plunge soon. All late last-minute rebounds should be sold down,” it said. 

On the scoreboard, the Plantation Index decreased 8.3 points to 9,055.28 but the Finance Index rose 43.27 points to 17,372.17 and the Industrial Index improved 3.48 points to 3,251.36.   

The FBM Emas Index advanced 15.4 points to 13,117.68, FBMT100 added 14.16 points to 12,695.63, FBM Ace gained 15.95 points to 7,074.61 and the FBM 70 expanded 5.89 points to 14,385.49.   

Gainers outpaced losers 170 to 117 with 236 counters unchanged, 1,112 untraded and 39 others were suspended.   

Turnover stood at 181.78 million shares worth RM96.18 million.     

Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd has debuted on the ACE market of Bursa Malaysia at 61 sen, a premium of 16 sen over its offer price of 45 sen.

The counter, emerged as the most active stock at the early trade, saw 5.6 million shares changing hands at the opening bell.

Among actives, Scomi added one sen to 40.5 sen while Hubline, Talam Transform and Zelan were flat at 4.5 sen, 12 sen and 32.5 sen, respectively.

Of heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM9.90, TNB went down six sen to RM12.50 while Public Bank rose 10 sen to RM20.10 and Axiata was four sen higher at RM6.89. ― Bernama