KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Bursa Malaysia extended last week's gains to open higher today, in line with positive sentiment on the regional bourses, dealers said.

At 9.22am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.84 points at 1,610.27 compared to 1,608.43 at Friday's close.

The market bellwether opened 2.31 points higher at 1,610.74.

Overall market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers at 384 to 279, while 363 counters were unchanged, 1,171 untraded and 41 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 1.13 billion shares worth RM597.71 million.

Malacca Securities, in a research note, opined that the key index may continue to trend sideways in the holiday-shortened week without a significant catalyst in the market.

“The FBM KLCI finished the week on a flat note amid tepid market sentiment, but the key index was supported by buying interest in glove counters over the past week.

“The market (this week) may focus on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision to gauge its investing direction. Trading interest may remain robust on small cap and lower liners.

“We expect buying interest in glove stocks to continue ahead of the earnings season, given the high earning certainties in the sector amid rising COVID-19 cases globally. Besides, investors may focus on technology stocks following the rise in Nasdaq,” it said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.26, Public Bank went up one sen to RM4.18, Top Glove added two sen to RM10.02, while Petronas Chemicals slipped two sen to RM7.85 and IHH Healthcare fell three sen to RM5.45.

Among the active counters, Minda Global gained 2.0 sen to 19 sen, Ucrest improved 2.5 sen to 50 sen, KTG increased 1.0 sen 25.5 sen, while Nova MSC was flat at 14 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 24.64 points to 11,865.10, the FBMT 100 increased 22.49 points to 11,514.55, the FBM 70 was 66.69 points higher at 15,674.59, the FBM Emas Shariah expanded 40.97 points to 13,348.66, and the FBM ACE was 59.98 points better at 8,746.03.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 5.72 points to 6,836.57, the Financial Services Index perked 10.90 points to 14,985.13, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.44 of-a-point to 196.58. — Bernama