KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on buying interest in selected heavyweight counters led by TNB and Maybank, dealers said.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.24 points higher at 1,669.97, against Thursday’s close of 1,666.73.

The index opened 2.21 points higher at 1,668.94 this morning.

Gainers outpaced losers 109 to 61 while 130 counters were unchanged, 1,359 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 64.53 million shares worth RM22.95 million.

A dealer said investors were cautious ahead of the United States (US) non-farm payrolls later today as the US Federal Reserve prepares itself for an interest rate increase later this year.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.07 per cent to 18,268.5 points and the S&P 500 rose 0.05 per cent to 2,160.77 points.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.19 per cent to 16,866.47 points but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased 0.63 per cent to 3,223.24 points.

AllianceDBS Research in a note said the higher high yesterday indicated that more market participants were willing to play a buying game.

"However, they were still seen on the conservative side due to lack of catalysts.

"We expect the FBM KLCI to trade above the 1,668.32 level today,” it said.

Of the heavyweights, TNB and Maybank each rose two sen to RM14.38 and RM7.72 respectively, Public Bank eased six sen to RM19.90 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.55.

Among gainers, Dutch Lady Milk Industries added 46 sen to RM60.44 while Sime Darby and Kuala Lumpur Kepong each perked eight sen to RM7.87 and RM24.12 respectively.

Of the active counters, Perak Transit lost half-a-sen to 20.5 sen, while KNM Group and Bumi Armada each improved half-a-sen to 42 sen and 70 sen respectively.

The FBM Emas Index increased 16.16 points to 11,789.15, the FBMT 100 Index rose 16.16 points to 11,493.62 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 23.20 points to 12,435.96.

However, the FBM 70 fell 2.63 points to 13,801.92 and the FBM Ace was 1.98 points lower at 5,160.15.

The Plantation Index was 15.11 points higher at 7,866.34, the Finance Index added 7.04 points to 14,319.48 and the Industrial Index advanced 7.84 points to 3,132.96. — Bernama