KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s gains to open higher today, delivering a solid performance amid positive market sentiment.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.15 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,611.09 from 1,609.94 at Tuesday’s close.

The key index opened 0.19 of-a-point firmer at 1,610.13 at 9 am.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 245 to 159, while 319 counters were unchanged, 1,274 untraded and 56 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 646.95 million shares worth RM270.44 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI had delivered a solid performance after reclaiming the 1,600 resistance level yesterday.

“That looks to persist over the near term as the market has brightened up again by the rally in glove makers stocks,” it said, adding that the stronger ringgit, which is traded higher against the US dollar this morning, may provide some impetus for further gains.

Despite that, the brokerage firm cautioned that gains would be capped by the weakness on Wall Street overnight, while investors would also monitor for developments surrounding the two-day US Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting on July 28-29, 2020.

Technically, Public Investment Bank Bhd anticipated the key index to trend sideways between the 1,600 and 1,610 levels, with a slight bullish bias should the buying interest in healthcare sector persist.

“Support levels for the index are at 1,550, 1,580 and 1,600, while the resistance levels are at 1,610, 1,622 and 1,636,” it said in a separate note.

Notably, the research house said the FBM KLCI should regain a stronger footing to pick up its prior uptrend, only if the index manages to penetrate and remain above its the immediate resistance of 1,610 points in the near term.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM7.84, Top Glove increased two sen to RM26.42, Public Bank and Tenaga added four sen each to RM17.56 and RM11.32, while Hartalega slid four sen to RM19.86.

Of the most actives, Key Alliance and PA Resources ticked up one sen each to 11 sen and eight sen respectively, XOX eased one sen to 27 sen while Hubline and AT Systematization were flat at 8.5 sen and 9.5 sen respectively.

Top gainers included DKSH which rose 41 sen to RM3.50, Takaful strengthened 38 sen to RM4.86, Rubberex added 27 sen to RM4.86, Bursa Malaysia rose 16 sen to RM10.20, and Poh Kong increased 12 sen to 90 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 11.56 points to 11,478.06, the FBMT 100 Index perked up 13.06 points to 11,315.82 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 19.50 points firmer at 13,467.69.

The FBM 70 climbed 36.46 points to 14,615.34 and the FBM ACE was 27.24 points higher at 8,503.82.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 1.17 points to 7,185.53, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.28 of-a-point to 141.75 and the Financial Services Index improved 30.30 points to 13,398.76. — Bernama