KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, as investors’ anticipate Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) to stay ahead of monetary policy meeting today, dealers said.
At 9.13am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.65 points to 1,681.29 from yesterday's close of 1,677.64.
At the opening, the index went up 1.51 points to 1,679.15.
Market breadth was positive with 124 gainers outpacing 103 decliners, while 211 counters unchanged, 1,410 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 194.11 million units worth RM61.46 million.
OANDA Senior market analyst, Alfonso Esparza said Malaysia is expected to keep its OPR unchanged when the BNM meets today.
Meanwhile, the FBM KLCI was in contradiction with Wall Street's weaker overnight performance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.8 per cent lower.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Axiata improved three sen to RM8.95 and RM5.18, respectively, CIMB added one sen to RM5.39, Tenaga gained eight sen to RM13.90, and Public Bank was four sen higher at RM23.02.
Of the actives, Mestron, Datasonic and Sumatec Resources, inched up half-a-sen each to 14.5 sen, 24.5 sen and 74 sen respectively, while Daya Materials and APFT were flat at one sen and two sen, respectively, while Ekovest trimmed half-a-sen to 80 sen.
The FBM Emas Index rose 21.77 points to 11,889.18 and the FBMT 100 Index increased 21.64 points to 11,726.06.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 21.42 points better at 12,255.32, the FBM 70 advanced 11.79 points to 14,843.13 and the FBM Ace increased 0.16 of-a-point to 4,582.32.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked 33.77 points to 16,790.44, the Plantation Index added 2.82 points to 6,947.99, while the Industrial Products & Services Index decreased 0.13 of-a-point to 161.92. ― Bernama
