KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open higher in early trade today, driven by improved market sentiment and tracking the sharp rally on Wall Street overnight which was buoyed by strong corporate earnings, dealers said.

At 9.20am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.58 points to 1,437.34 from Tuesday’s close of 1,428.76.

The benchmark index opened 1.26 points higher at 1,430.02.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 324 to 94, while 190 counters were unchanged, 1,680 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 386.10 million units worth RM141.24 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note today, said following the strong rebound on Wall Street, it expects the technology sector to recover further amid the spillover buying interest in local technology stocks.

"Meanwhile, we believe trading interest may emerge in the energy sector amid a strong rebound in crude oil prices.

"Also, consumer, transportation and logistics sector may turn out to be the winners under the recovery theme,” it said.

Commodity-wise, Malacca Securities said the Brent crude oil price has improved, trading above US$107 per barrel mark on the back of renewed worries over tight supply.

Meanwhile, the crude palm oil price rebounded to trade above RM3,900 per tonne.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.59, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.42, Petronas Chemicals gained 13 sen to RM8.43, IHH Healthcare bagged one sen to RM6.43, while CIMB Group eased one sen to RM5.09.

Of the actives, both Metronic Global and AHB Holdings was half-a-sen higher at nine sen and 14.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange perked up two sen to 75 sen, Sapura Energy shed half-a-sen to four sen, while MMAG Holdings was flat at five sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 58.68 points to 10,190.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 74.55 points to 10,290.99, the FBM 70 was 125.39 points higher at 12,253.82, the FBMT 100 Index widened 55.57 points to 9,951.48, and the FBM ACE improved 79.72 points to 4,672.44.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 51.46 points to 6,812.59, the Financial Services Index gained 43.11 points to 16,048.52, the Energy Index was 11.30 points higher to 636.81, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.44 points to 172.36. — Bernama