KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today on the back of weak follow-through buying momentum with the market undertone taking the cue from the mixed Asian equities markets and due to overnight flattish performance on Wall Street, dealers said.

At 9.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.97 of a point better at 1,773.36 against Tuesday's close of 1,772.39.

The benchmark index opened 0.50 of a point higher at 1,772.87.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 97 to 45 with 147 counters unchanged, 1,574 untraded and 46 others were suspended.

Alliance DBS Research Sdn Bhd said the market opened the day on a positive note yesterday.

However, it said, non-follow through selling pressure in the area of 1,773.37 prompted profit-taking to chip in and pushed the benchmark index down to a low of 1,768.76 before rebounding to end near the day’s high at 1,772.39.

It said the market was also higher yesterday with the benchmark index rising marginally to 1,773.66.

"This showed that market participants were unwilling to play a more aggressive buying game as the benchmark index was less than two points away from the immediate hurdle of 1,775.

 "The analyses of overall market action yesterday revealed that buying power was stronger than selling pressure. As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade above the 1,773.66 level today," it added.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group added one sen each to RM9.70 and RM6.79 respectively, Public Bank gained four sen to RM20.62, while Tenaga, Sime Darby and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM14.20, RM9.38 and RM7.15 respectively.

Among active counters, MRCB warrant added half-a-sen to 9.5 sen, MRCB gained four sen to RM1.21, Straits Inter Logistics warrant improved 2.5 sen to 10 sen and Frontken was flat at 34.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was 8.75 points higher at 12,578.07, FBM 70 rose 19.10 points to 14,871.32, FBM Emas Shariah Index added 2.35 points to 12,705.09, FBMT 100 Index increased 8.92 points to 12,244.96 and the FBM Ace rose 22.70 points to 6,441.98.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 16.34 points better at 16,727.39, Industrial Index added 1.14 points to 3,242.79 while the Plantation Index eased 3.52 points to 7,799. — Bernama