KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 ― Shares opened higher on Bursa Malaysia this morning on renewed buying interest for local equities with sentiment expected to be focused on CIMB's corporate results due to be released today, dealers said
As at 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,829.51, up 0.83 of a point, after opening 1.3 points better at 1,829.98.
HwangDBS Vickers Research, in its note, said the benchmark FBM KLCI could advance towards the immediate resistance hurdle of 1,840 ahead, influenced by Wall Street's overnight performance.
“Wall Street chalked up further gains last night. Major US stock indices rose between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent at the closing bell as sentiment was lifted by robust corporate news flows.
“The bullish external vibes may spill over to Asian equities today,” it added.
Against the positive market backdrop, stocks that may attract added buying interest today following their buoyant earnings announcements include Ta Ann Holdings, Tiong Nam Logistics Holdings and PJ Development.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index rose 35.98 points to 16,599.14, the Plantation Index added 27.14 points to 8,827.10 and the Industrial Index gained 4.98 points to 3,123.11.
The FBM Emas Index was up 16.12 points at 12,667.49, the FBMT100 Index garnered 14.28 points to 12,327.02, the FBM 70 rose 49.79 points to 13,850.8 and the FBM Ace improved 32.99 points to 6,838.48.
Gainers outpaced losers 195 to 44, while 189 counters were unchanged, 1,205 untraded and 17 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 132.05 million shares worth RM39.37 million.
Among actives, Asia Media-WA and Luster Industries earned half-a-sen each to five sen and 14 sen, respectively, and Asia Media Group added one sen to 11 sen.
As for heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM9.74, Tenaga Nasional lost two sen to RM12.02 while CIMB gained three sen to RM7.12. ― Bernama
