KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today following another upbeat overnight performance on Wall Street.

At 9.11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.36 points better at 1,724.47 from yesterday's close of 1,723.11, a slight rebound after opening 0.8 point easier at 1,722.31.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing decliners 161 to 98, while 176 counters were unchanged, 1,294 untraded and 17 others suspended.      

Turnover in early trade stood at 127.93 million shares worth RM50.98 million.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.06 per cent higher at 17,908.28, while regionally, Tokyo shares pushed higher at the start of trade today, extending a two-day rally following a strong lead from other global equity markets.

Major bourses surged yesterday following strong Chinese trade data, amid  crude oil futures holding firm above US$40 (RM156.57) per barrel.

Banking stocks were the leading movers with CIMB Group rising six sen to RM4.95, top weighted Maybank inched up one sen to RM9.16, while Public Bank and Tenaga both advanced four sen each to RM19.20 and RM14.40, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index rose 12.58 points to 11,978.26, the FBMT100 Index went up 11.63 points to 11,670.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 5.85 points to 12,535.55.

The FBM 70 gained 22.07 points to 13,305.55 and the FBM Ace increased 33.17 points to 5,781.33.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index surged 29.06 points to 14,970.99, but the Industrial Index shaved off 1.55 points to 3,275.69 and the Plantation Index trimmed 23.13 points to 7,785.90.

Actively traded stocks this morning included Sona Petroleum, Vivocom, AirAsia X, Sumatec and JAG. ― Bernama