KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note today, driven by buying interest in the energy stocks and gains on Wall Street last Friday, said a dealer.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 1.29 points to 1,439.57 from Friday’s close of 1,438.28.

The market bellwether opened 2.90 points better at 1,441.18.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 179 to 104, while 225 counters were unchanged, 1,817 untraded, and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 128.47 million units worth RM44.16 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street staged a relief rally last Friday while traders remained divided on inflation and the state of the US economy.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 402 points while the Nasdaq added 132 points as the US 10-year yield inched marginally higher at 4.16 per cent,” he told Bernama.

Back home, he reckons that buying interest may return to technology and banking stocks.

"As such, we expect the FBM KLCI index to re-test the 1,450 mark today,” he said.

Meanwhile, crude oil trended higher with Brent crude closing at US$99 per barrel on the expectation that China may ease some of its Covid-19 regulations, thus energy stocks may come into focus, he added.

Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.48, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.38, and Petronas Chemicals added four sen to RM8.55. CIMB increased one sen to RM5.38, while IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM6.01.

Among the actives, TWL Holdings and Citaglobal were unchanged at 3.5 sen and 30.5 sen respectively, Advance Synergy and Solution Group climbed one sen to 7.5 sen and 36 sen respectively, and Hua Yang grew half-a-sen to 19 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 11.70 points to 10,229.19, the FBM 70 expanded 19.13 points to 12,161.26, and the FBMT 100 Index put on 10.51 points to 9,959.43. The FBM ACE added 6.05 points to 4,925.23.

However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 4.68 points to 10,322.41.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 67.35 points to 16,160.04, the Energy Index was 9.85 points stronger at 735.13 and the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.46 of a point to 174.24. The Plantation Index shed 23.77 points to 6,797.25. — Bernama