KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, boosted by buying support in the consumer, industrial and property-linked counters.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.05 points to 1,531.26 from Friday’s close of 1,525.21.

The barometre index opened 16.34 point higher at 1,541.55.

Market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 381 to 298, while 341 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 1.36 billion shares worth RM674.27 million.

The market was closed on Monday for the National Day celebration.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the quarterly MSCI rebalancing may result in some recovery in the local bourse at the start of the week.

"Still, we remain cautious over uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s remarks that economic outlook will remain frail with interest rates expected to stay low in the next two years.

"Nevertheless, ample liquidity in the equities market will keep trading opportunities in a sweet spot,” the brokerage firm said.

On sector focus, it continues to see the construction sector playing catch-up with the recovery on the broader market as the progress of KL-SG HSR takes pace.

At the same time, the technology sector is expected to march higher as demand remains relatively solid at current juncture, supported by the 5G trend and Malaysia’s government efforts to encourage the adoption of digitalisation.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM7.34, Top Glove recovered 22 sen to RM26.50, Public Bank gained six sen to RM16.48, and Tenaga was 12 sen higher at RM10.98.

Among the actives, Pegasus inched up half-a-sen to four sen, Fintec rose 1.5 sen to 17.5 sen, while XOX dipped 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen and Bumi Armada was flat at 27 sen.

Top gainers Malaysian Pacific Industries jumped 66 sen to RM16.36, Hong Leong Financial increased 36 sen to RM12.70, PPB soared 32 sen to RM18.32 and F&N was 28 sen better at RM30.90.

Of the top losers, KLK erased 52 sen to RM22.14, KESM dropped 35 sen to RM8.28, BIMB shed 18 sen to RM3.52, while HLT Global was 10 sen weaker at RM1.61.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 37.05 points to 11,122.63, the FBMT 100 Index was 39.46 points firmer at 10,926.21 and the FBM 70 appreciated 38.94 points to 14,786.33.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 38.47 points to 13,205.13, while the FBM ACE rose 41.53 points to 11,020.80.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index strengthened 54.99 points to 12,697.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.43 point to 136.07, and the Plantation Index added slipped 26.31 points to 7,030.97. — Bernama