KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower but turned mixed thereafter, supported by higher oil prices, despite weaker performance on Wall Street, a dealer said.

At 9.18am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.55 points to 1,580.44 from 1,578.89 at Friday’s close, after opening 1.90 points lower at 1,576.99.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 328 to 199, while 293 counters were unchanged, 1,389 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 439.94 million units worth RM227.13 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the price of Brent crude oil jumped on concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil rose 1.38 per cent to US$95.74 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Thong noted that the barometer index defied expectations despite regional weaknesses to end higher last week, largely propped up by foreign buying. 

"We believe there is a possibility that the index may challenge the 1,600 mark in due course,” he told Bernama.

Heavyweights CIMB added four sen to RM5.59, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.37, Maybank firmed three sen to RM8.60, and Sime Darby increased four sen to RM2.27.

As for the actives, KNM stayed flat at 18.5 sen, SMTrack inched up one sen to 20.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum rose six sen to RM1.15, and Key Alliance was flat at 1.5 sen.

On the index board, FBM ACE weakened 26.02 points to 6,318.93, FBM 70 shed 68.79 points to 13,712.50, FBM Emas Index gave up 2.12 points to 11,318.30, FBMT 100 Index declined 3.84 points to 10,996.89, and FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 25.70 points to 12,014.69.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 67.19 points to 16,363.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.25 of-a-point lower at 210.69, and the Plantation Index gained 9.41 points to 7,223.83. — Bernama