KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today as investor sentiment improved on news that Malaysia and China had agreed to increase palm oil trade and other areas of cooperation, dealers said.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.57 of-a-point higher at 1,636.25, from yesterday’s close of 1,635.68.
The benchmark index opened 2.98 points better at 1,638.66.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers at 152 to 139, while 193 counters were unchanged, 1,428 untraded and 60 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 237.56 million shares worth RM106.37 million.
Both Malaysia and China signed two memorandums of understanding yesterday, one to enhance palm oil trade and cooperation and the other to increase cooperation between the two countries in the development of industrial parks, infrastructure, logistics hub and transit-oriented developments under the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street posted overnight losses after earnings from high-profile companies missed analysts’ expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained in the red, dragged down by 3M, while the S&P 500 Index flatlined. The Nasdaq however, closed higher by 0.2 per cent on gains in tech giants like Facebook and Microsoft.
On the local front, the research firm said the FBM KLCI is likely to end on a more muted mode as buying interest was still thin under the current environment.
With the downside bias still prevailing, it said the key index could head back to the 1,630 level, followed by 1,620. Resistance remains at the 1,640 and 1,645 levels.
“We think that a mixed-to-lower pattern could emerge among the lower liners as retail players possibly embark of profit-taking ahead of the weekend,” it said in a note today.
Meanwhile, palm oil planter, Sime Darby Plantation rose four sen to RM5.13.
For other heavyweights, Maybank increased four sen to RM9.17, but Public Bank eased two sen to RM22.58 and Petronas Chemicals was down five sen to RM9.00.
Tenaga and CIMB each bagged two sen to RM12.18 and RM5.21.
For the most active counters, Ekovest gained three sen to 97.5 sen, Bumi Armada dropped one sen to 23.5 sen and TDM added 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen.
For the top gainers, Carlsberg increased 36 sen to RM24.70, Takaful rose 31 sen to RM6.03 and G3 improved 15 sen to RM1.54.
The FBM Emas Index ticked up 3.81 points to 11,658.30, the FBMT 100 Index was 3.50 points better at 11,466.05, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 7.03 points to 11,862.92.
The FBM 70 improved 2.36 points to 14,731.90 and the FBM Ace was higher by 3.18 points to 4,819.76.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 45.27 points to 16,894.09, but the Plantation Index was 49.93 points firmer at 7,314.76, with the Industrial Products & Services Index 0.27 of-a-point easier at 171.34. — Bernama
