KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher today after three consecutive days of losses, driven by renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights, dealers said.

At 9.53am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 9.86 points to 1,528.71 from Thursday's close of 1,518.18, after opening 3.84 points higher at 1,522.69.

However, on the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 218 to 129, while 267 counters were unchanged, 1,678 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 765.04 million units worth RM534.40 million.

In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said while the market sentiment may remain cautious without a fresh lead, the economic recovery is still on track as Malaysia will reopen its borders to international visitors by Jan 1, 2022 at the latest.

"Investors may position themselves on fundamentally solid companies amid the ongoing earnings season,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 7.0 sen to RM8.07, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals improved 1.0 sen each to RM4.03 and RM8.31, respectively, while IHH Healthcare declined 2.0 sen to RM6.44 and TNB slipped 1.0 sen to RM9.62.

Of the actives, NWP Holdings went up 2.0 sen to 35.5 sen and DNex eased half-a-sen to 82.5 sen, while Kanger International and Tanco Holdings were flat at 3.5 and 27 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 66.46 points to 11,307.56, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 67.51 points to 10,944.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 85.86 points to 12,319.40, the FBM ACE rose 221.16 points to 6,979.44 and the FBM 70 perked 80.27 points to 14,954.04.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.67 of-a-point to 201.56, the Plantation Index gave up 3.97 points to 6,612.12, and the Financial Services Index was 60.09 points higher at 15,178.34. — Bernama