KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower but rebounded thereafter, extending yesterday’s uptrend, as investors were driven by positive market catalysts on the local and global fronts, dealers said.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 1.83 points to 1,601.72 after opening 1.72 points lower at 1,598.17 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,599.89
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expected Bursa Malaysia to head higher as it cast aside the wariness over the market’s condition, driven by improved market sentiments brought about by the easing of Hong Kong political crisis and Malaysia’s better-than-expected export performance.
“We see the positivity continuing as the near term market conditions are showing some signs of stability that could provide further leeway for stocks to gain ground over the near term.
“As it is, the market has been deprived of positive leads for some time now and we see the market players capitalising on the calmer market conditions to bargain hunt some of the beaten-down stocks,” it said in a research note today.
Therefore, the research firm foresees the key index passing the 1,600 level and possibly target the next resistance at 1,610 over the near term, with the support levels, are at the 1,590 and 1,580 points respectively.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank added four sen each to RM8.76 and RM20.30, respectively, TNB jumped six sen to RM13.82, while Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM6.82 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.76.
Of the actives, Sumatec Resources was flat at 2.5 sen, Priceworth International and Iris Corp eased half-a-sen each to 5.5 sen and 15.5 sen, respectively, while Bumi Armada earned half-a-sen to 27 sen.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index increased 18.81 points to 11,272.53, the FBMT 100 Index was 17.87 points higher at 11,110.22 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 13.76 points to 11,800.80.
The FBM Ace went down 13.93 points to 4,453.37 and the FBM 70 advanced 43.93 points to 13,811.31.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 32.75 points to 15,512.91, the Plantation Index climbed 1.09 points to 6,916.60 while the Industrial Products and Services earned 0.21 of-a-point to 147.74.
On the broader market, gainers edged losers 166 to 84, with 212 counters unchanged, 1,475 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 203.39 million units worth RM83.96 million. — Bernama
