KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today in tandem with its regional peers, taking cue from the stronger closing on Wall Street on Friday, said an analyst.

At 9.44am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 2.33 points to 1,577.49 from last Friday’s close of 1,575.16.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 429 to 254, while 392 counters were unchanged, 1,298 untraded and 112 others suspended. The benchmark index opened 1.14 points better at 1,576.30.

Turnover amounted to 960.78 million units worth RM483.96 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended last week on a strong note, buoyed by robust earnings from both Alphabet and Microsoft while dispelling initial concerns over slower United States (US) economic growth and sticky inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 154 points while the Nasdaq rallied 316 points as the US 10-year yield eased slightly to 4.66 per cent, he noted.

Over in Hong Kong, he said, the Hang Seng Index jumped 366 points as confidence seemed to be back, underpinned by policies to boost the market coupled with positive corporate earnings.

"On the home front, the FBM KLCI closed on a year-to-date high as bargain hunters returned to the local bourse.

"For today, we expect the index to maintain its upward trajecto. Hence, anticipate the index to hover in the 1,575-1,585 range with buying interest possibly focused on the banks,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, he pointed out that crude oil prices are expected to trend higher given the escalating tension in the Middle East and lower inventory that saw Brent crude close at US$89.50 per barrel.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank edged up one sen to RM9.80, Tenaga Nasional gained two sen to RM11.94, and IHH Healthcare rose four sen to RM6.31.

Public Bank and CIMB slid one sen each to RM4.20 and RM6.60, respectively.

As for the actives, MYEG went up one sen to 92.5 sen, Capital A and Powerwell advanced three sen each to 76.5 sen and 47.5 sen, respectively, and TWL Holdings and Ingenieur Gudang were flat at three sen and 11.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 31.01 points higher at 11,857.80, the FBMT 100 Index increased 28.35 points to 11,489.80, the FBM 70 Index added 87.43 points to 16,504.21, the FBM ACE Index climbed 25.72 points to 5,087.73, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 42.39 points to 12,034.34.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 7.44 points to 17,296.37, the Energy Index trimmed 4.84 points to 972.58, and the Plantation Index shaved 14.94 points to 7,388.01; but the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.12 points to 188.45. — Bernama