KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning, in continuing its upward momentum on the back of positive sentiment surrounding the market.

At 9.05am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 4.21 points at 1,653.54 from 1,649.33 at 5pm on Friday.

The barometer index opened 2.60 points better at 1,651.93.

Market breadth was positive as advancers outnumbered decliners 206 to 54, with 121 counters unchanged, 1,509 untraded and 28 suspended.

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Turnover stood at 104.91 million worth RM48.64 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the market is expected to see further near-term uptrend as Malaysian stocks continue to play catch up to the gains in overseas indices amid renewed talk of a US interest rate cut that could provide some immediate buying impetus.

This optimism will temporarily cast aside the lingering concerns of the US-China trade spat as well as the corresponding effects of the slowing global economic environment, it said.

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“As it is, there has been renewed bouts of foreign buying on portfolio re-shuffling of late and this could also provide some calmness to the Malaysian market environment, albeit there remains little change to the fundamentals of corporate Malaysia after the recent results reporting season.

“Therefore, much of the upcoming gains will largely be on the back of the developments in overseas markets,” it said in a note today.

The FBM KLCI resistances are at 1,657 and 1,664 levels, while the supports are at 1,644 and 1,639 respectively, it added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM9.02, Public Bank and Tenaga increased eight sen each to RM23.50 and RM12.86 respectively, CIMB gained three sen to RM5.31 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.40.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Ekovest perked two sen to 81 sen, SinoHua-An International improved one sen to 18.5 sen, AirAsia X edged up half-a-sen to 24.5 sen, Impiana Hotels trimmed half-a-sen to 3.5 sen while IRIS Corporation was flat at 15.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index rose 35.18 points to 11,615.83, the FBMT 100 Index increased 32.16 points to 11,472.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 28.61 points to 11,819.05.

The FBM 70 added 52.12 points to 14,279.44 and the FBM Ace bagged 39.01 points to 4,303.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 52.40 points higher at 16,881.26 and the Industrial Products & Services Index added 0.15 of-a-point to 160.69 and the Plantation Index gained 1.36 points to 6,874.83. — Bernama