KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on mild buying support in most index-linked counters, amid lack of fresh catalysts.
Despite the increase, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the local bourse may trade in a subdued session today ahead of the extended weekend.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.15 points firmer at 1,557.93 from Thursday’s close of 1,554.78.
The barometer index opened 0.27 point higher at 1,555.05.
Market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 282 to 169, while 291 counters were unchanged, 1,307 untraded and 68 others suspended.
Trading volume stood at 524.02 million shares worth RM171.04 million.
In a note today, the online equities broker said regional markets are expected to trade in a mixed note on lack of fresh leads, despite the broadly higher US stock markets overnight, as the US Federal Reserves shifted their monitoring goal posts and will continue to assist the US economy.
“We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,550-1,560 level today,” said Rakuten Trade.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said mild gains will be taking place today as investors remain cautious on the sluggish corporate earnings undertone in general.
“We think that the benchmark index may continue its quest to find stability investors with market recovery to be choppy owing to the weakness in Genting-related financial performance,” said the brokerage firm.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank shed four sen to RM7.42, Top Glove recovered 10 sen to RM26.50, Public Bank rose four sen to RM16.66, Tenaga fell two sen to RM11.10 and Hartalega was down six sen at RM16.80.
Among the actives, XOX dipped 2.5 sen to 29.5 sen, while Vivocom and Nova MSC rose one sen each to five sen and nine sen, respectively.
Top gainers Allianz increased 60 sen to RM14.08, Riverview Rubber Estates improved 50 sen to RM3.29, and Supermax advanced 36 sen to RM20.56.
Of the top losers, Nestle went down 90 sen to RM139.10, United Plantations fell 20 sen to RM14.24 and Kumpulan Powernet erased 14 sen to RM3.25.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 23.28 points to 11,234.87, the FBMT 100 Index was 22.27 points firmer at 11,037.53 and the FBM 70 appreciated 29.30 points to 14,630.60.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 25.68 points to 13,317.27 while the FBM ACE rose 89.86 points to 11,296.81.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index strengthened 16.79 points to 12,852.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.11 point to 140.15, and the Plantation Index added 4.83 points to 7,086.87. — Bernama
