KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Bursa Malaysia opened easier today on lack of buying support for the local stocks, a dealer said. 

At 9.08am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.53 of-a-point lower at  1,753.84 from yesterday's close of 1,754.37.  

The index opened 0.93 of-a-point lower at 1,753.44.   

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers by 154 to 97, with 196 counters unchanged, 1,397 untraded and 19 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 227.75 million shares worth RM78.81 million.

A dealer said the local exchange was quiet this morning as some traders, according to him, might be away to celebrate Deepavali tomorrow.

The dealer said he expected to see the Asian stock markets, including Bursa Malaysia, to trade higher, lifted by the improved commodities prices.

"This is on the back of better-than-expected China's producer prices reported for September, which rose by 1.6 per cent,” he said.

It was reported that the higher Producer Price Index might help markets outside the republic, signalling its economy continued to grow and would demand for more raw materials.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.47, Tenaga and Public Bank were flat at RM14.26 and RM20.46, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals was down by one sen to RM7.34.

Among active counters, DBE Gurney inched up half-a-sen to three sen, Palette Multimedia added 4.5 sen to 41 sen, PUC was flat at 16 sen and Anzo Holdings eased half-a-sen to 11 sen.

The FBM Emas Index added 6.78 points to 12,601.27, FBMT 100 Index was 8.74 points higher at 12,249.33, FBM 70 increased 57.17 points to 15,401.01, FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 24.90 points to 12,927.13 and the FBM Ace surged 32.80 points to 7,008.45.   

Sector-wise, the Finance Index declined 32.72 points to 16,448.55, Industrial Index inched down 2.17 points to 3,227.06 but the Plantation Index was 8.29 points higher at 7,983.88. — Bernama