KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher across the board this morning, buoyed by the positive market sentiment, echoing the Wall Street’s overnight rebound.

At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.79 points to 1,537.21 from yesterday’s close of 1,530.42.  

It opened 0.95 of-a-point firmer at 1,531.37.

The overall market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 304 to 117, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,574 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 205.39 million units worth RM123.13 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the key index might continue to trade higher in the near-term, and investors might focus on technology stocks following the Nasdaq’s overnight rally.

"Additionally, the resumption of economic activities should support the market sentiment and the recovery narrative, at least for now,” it said in a note today.

The research firm also said the firmer crude palm oil (CPO) and crude oil price might spark buying interest in oil and gas as well as plantation stocks.

The crude oil price stood at above the US$82 (RM342.85) per barrel mark, while the CPO price advanced to close above RM4,700 per tonne yesterday.

 Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM8.06, Public Bank and CIMB added one sen each to RM4.07 and RM4.73, respectively, Petronas Chemicals soared 11 sen to RM8.80, Tenaga increased seven sen to RM9.69, while IHH was flat at RM6.60.

Of the actives, Bumi Armada, Tanco, Serba Dinamik, Hibiscus and Matang inched up half a sen each to 48.5 sen, 24 sen, 33 sen, 77.5 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively, while HPMT gained 3.5 sen to 71.5 sen and SC Estate perked 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 50.33 points to 11,330.08, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 46.55 points to 10,993.58, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 63.88 points to 12,400.83, the FBM 70 went up 55.56 points to 14,973.75, and the FBM ACE improved 46.62 points to 7,057.89.  

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 2.12 points to 207.16, the Plantation Index soared 80.1 points to 6,484.34, and the Financial Services Index garnered 40.51 points to 15,142.54. ― Bernama