KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today following an upbeat overnight performance by Wall Street and rising oil prices.
At 9.08am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.48 points better at 1,651.47 from yesterday’s close of 1,648.99 .
The index opened 1.27 points higher at 1,650.26.
Market breadth was better with 143 gainers and 67 losers, while 141 counters were unchanged, 1,359 untraded and 30 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 68.96 million shares worth RM42.21 million.
Affin Hwang Capital said on Wall Street, the S&P 500 posted a seven-month high after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen signalled that the economy was still strong enough to withstand gradual increases in borrowing costs, despite recent signs of slower employment growth.
“She stated that the US economy was making progress but was silent on the timing of another interest-rate increase,” it said in a note.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent to 2,109.41 and the Dow Jones gained 0.6 per cent to 17,920.33. The benchmark Brent Crude was up 1.8 per cent at US$50.55 per barrel.
The FBM Emas Index rose 14.50 points to 11,532.63, the FBMT100 Index gained 14.20 points to 11,230.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 12.63 points to 12,030.32.
The FBM 70 perked 6.89 points to 12,997.48 and the FBM Ace was 33.32 points better at 5,516.67.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index inched up 18.81 points to 14,364.05, while the Industrial Index increased 16.38 points to 3,115.85. But, the Plantation Index slipped 12.45 points to 7,504.01.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank each improved two sen to RM8.44 and RM19.12 respectively, TNB rose 10 sen to RM14.08 and IHH Healthcare gained one sen to RM6.41.
Of actives, SapuraKencana bagged three sen for RM1.69 sen, Vivocom perked one sen to 29.5 sen, and Comintel gained 1.5 sen to 80.5 sen. — Bernama
