KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher across the board this morning, with the composite index rising 1.464 per cent on the back of positive market sentiment following a strong performance overnight on Wall Street.

At 9.03am, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) soared 20.3 points to 1,406.83 from 1,386.53 at yesterday’s close.

The key index opened 9.02 points firmer at 1,395.55.

Market breadth was bullish with gainers trouncing losers 364 to only 40, while 131 counters were unchanged, 1,369 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 365.06 million shares worth RM114.71 million.

Wall Street recovered on hopes that the US economy would be reopened sooner rather than later after President Donald Trump announced guidelines for states and reopening should take a phased approach.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it believes that bargain activities would continue on the cards as investors remain, as any pullback would bring an opportunity for quick bargain hunting.

The research house, in a note, said the move would be backed by countries across the globe that are mulling a gradual reopening of the economy.

At the same time, the stability of crude oil prices also provided some alleviation to the market sentiment, it said.

"At the current juncture, the key index’s recovery appears to hit another snag, with the immediate resistance located at the 1,400 psychological level.

"However, further recovery may power the local bourse towards the 1,420-1,455 level. On the flip side, 1,340 continues to serve as the immediate support level,” it added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank bagged nine sen to RM7.67, Tenaga chalked up 56 sen to RM12.80, Public Bank advanced 14 sen to RM16.08, and Petronas Chemicals edged up seven sen to RM5.47.

Maxis was flat at RM5.46 while IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM5.20.

Of the actives, XOX added one sen to 3.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange gained 1.5 sen to 17 sen, while DGB, Velesto and Daya Material were flat at 2.5 sen, 16 sen and half-a-sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 136.83 points higher at 9,761.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index chalked up 158.02 points to 10,833.62, while the FBMT 100 Index increased 135.07 points to 9,648.02.

The FBM 70 garnered 144.24 points to 11,531.51 and the FBM Ace earned 54.21 points to 4,478.81.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.54 points to 117.35, the Financial Services Index climbed 123.01 points to 12,568.68 while the Plantation Index appreciated 21.13 points to 6,300.6. ― Bernama