KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 ― Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday's losses to open higher today, taking the cue from the overnight Wall Street performance which hovered around record highs on optimism over corporate earnings.

Investors also awaited the latest responses by central banks to months of above-target inflation, dealers said.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.79 points to 1,537.71 from yesterday's close of 1,530.92.

It opened 1.29 points higher at 1,545.87.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 229 to 149, while 249 counters were unchanged, 1,648 untraded and 15 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 222.85 million units worth RM232.89 million.

In a research note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said following the strong hammered-down situation on the local front, the sentiment is expected to remain negative over the near term without any significant positive fresh leads in the market.

"Nevertheless, with the Wall Street still in the upward trending tone, buying interest might spillover to technology stocks on the local front.

"Still, we expect mild bargain-hunting activities to emerge once the market is able to look beyond the Prosperity Tax and contract notes stamp duty going forward,” it said.

Commodity-wise, the crude palm oil (CPO) price is hovering below the RM5,000 level, while the crude oil price was mildly higher.

As such, it said for stocks to watch, technology could be a sweet spot, given the earnings certainty going forward.

"Also, we expect traders to lookout for recovery-theme stocks under the tourism and consumer sectors, while TA Win, having secured a RM2.5 billion contract from South Korea’s POSCO, may spur trading interest within metal-related sector,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals added five sen each to RM8.04 and RM8.40, respectively, Public Bank improved two sen to RM4.06, Tenaga gained six sen to RM9.66, and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.48.

Of the actives, TA Win bagged one sen to 16.5 sen, TA Win warrant edged up half-a-sen to seven sen and YBS International rose 3.5 sen to 57.5 sen, while MMAG eased half-a-sen to 10 sen, and Top Builder slid 2.5 sen to three sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 47.58 points to 11,377.75, the FBMT 100 Index rose 43.42 points to 11,002.92, the FBM 70 went up 39.16 points to 15,008.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 43.58 points to 12,409.65, and the FBM ACE improved 5.26 points to 7,055.49.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.98 of-a-point to 203.12, the Plantation Index climbed 14.94 points to 6,728.35, and the Financial Services Index advanced 87.61 points to 15,244.88. ― Bernama