KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today, lifted by mild buying interest in selected heavyweights and the better sentiment in regional markets.
At 9am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) perked 0.2 of-a-point to 1,770.81 against yesterday’s close of 1,770.61.
After 10 minutes of trading, the key index edged up 0.22 of-a-point to 1,770.83.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 128 to 99 with 188 counters unchanged, 1,401 untraded and 22 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 143.27 million shares worth RM64.70 million.
JF Apex Securities said the FBM KLCI could extend its rebound towards the psychological level of 1,800 points, after testing the resistance of 1,770 points yesterday.
“The US markets ended mixed overnight with the Dow extending its record high after Apple’s quarterly earnings beat expectations. Earlier, European stocks declined after being dragged by basic resources and banking counters,” it said in a note today.
Local heavyweights, Axiata added three sen to RM4.72, Public Bank gained six sen to RM20.70, Hong Leong appreciated eight sen to RM15.76, YTL Corp and CIMB rose one sen each to RM1.41 and RM6.57, respectively.
Maybank, TNB and Sime Darby were flat at RM9.65, RM14.18 and RM9.39, respectively.
Among active counters, Sterling Progress went up one sen to 18 sen, Systech improved 1.5 sen to 43 sen, IFCA MSC edged up half-a-sen to 41.5 sen while Borneo Oil and AirAsia X were flat at 10 sen and 39 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index inched up two points to 12,608.66, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 1.67 points to 12,255.49, the FBM Ace bagged 56.32 points to 6,518.85, the FBM 70 grew 2.77 points to 14,990.06 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 6.39 points to 12,736.02.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index advanced 24.68 points to 16,818.4, the Plantation Index fell 14.39 points to 7,824.9 and the Industrial Index depreciated 8.23 points to 3,267.32. — Bernama
