KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened higher, tracking the firmer performance on Wall Street.
At 9.15 am, the index was 0.57 points better at 1,673.29 from Friday's close of 1,672.72.
It opened at 1.79 points higher at 1,674.51.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers by 184 to 107, with 174 counters unchanged, 1,230 untraded and seven others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 181.90 million shares worth RM90.46 million.
Bursa Malaysia was closed yesterday in lieu of the Labour Day public holiday which fell on Sunday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 117.52 points to 17,891.16 and the S&P 500 added 16.13 points to 2,081.43.
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research in a note today said traders would stay cautious over the release of economic data, including from the US, China and Malaysia.
"As we are entering into the month of May, market may also stay cautious over the old adage "Sell in May and Go Away".
"Coupled with technical downtrend position, the local benchmark index is likely to trend cautiously between 1,650 and 1,690 level," it said.
The FBM Emas Index rose 8.78 points to 11,646.80, the FBMT100 Index added 12.94 points to 11,347.14 while the FBM Emas Syariah Index declined 3.29 points to 12,205.70.
The FBM 70 improved 47.35 points to 13,018.01, while the FBM Ace was up 39.14 points to 5,656.23.
The Finance Index gained 41.29 points to 14,628.59, the Industrial Index increased 0.11 points to 3,174.21 and the Plantation Index added 22.73 points to 7,733.58.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM8.95, Tenaga was down 16 sen to RM14.20, Public Bank increased eight sen to RM18.78 and IHH Healthcare declined five sen to RM6.50.
Among the actively-traded stocks were Vivocom, Advance Synergy, AirAsia X and AirAsia. — Bernama
