KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, lifted by stronger buying support in most heavyweights following Wall Street’s overnight gains.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,712.34, up 5.78 points from Tuesday’s close of 1,706.56.
The index opened 6.27 points firmer at 1,712.83
In a note, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI is anticipated to trend higher for the rest of the week given stronger recovery in an upward momentum, ranging between 1,720 and 1,700 marks.
“Immediate challenge would be having the index to stay above its watershed 1700-points level at the end of the week. Support levels for the index are at 1,664, 1,680 and 1,700, while the resistance levels are at 1,720, 1,734 and 1,743,” it added.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite were both up 0.2 per cent respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended yesterday flat.
Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank gained three sen to RM9.51, Public Bank rose two sen to RM25.02 while Tenaga and Petronas Chemicals increased six sen each to RM13.38 and RM8.96, respectively.
Of actives, Bumi Armada was half-a-sen better at 22 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum was three sen higher at RM1.08 and Securemetric increased two sen at 52.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 46.39 points to 11,916.97, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 60.14 points to 11,904.14 and the FBMT 100 rose 45.89 points to 11,777.03.
The FBM Ace Index was 13.54 points higher at 4,675.65 and the FBM 70 rose 80.92 points to 14,236.56.
Sectorwise, the Financial Services Index was up 33.34 points at 17,699.79, the Plantation Index edged up 37.42 points to 7,439.86 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.59 of-a-point higher at 166.44.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 182 to 69, while 160 counters were unchanged, 1,443 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 111.19 million shares worth RM63.22 million. — Bernama
