Bursa opens higher on strong Wall Street showing

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Bursa Malaysia recovered from yesterday’s losses to trade higher at opening, taking the cue from the overnight US stocks strong performance.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.15 points to 1,582.05 from Thursday’s close of 1,579.90.

The index opened 3.37 points better at 1,583.27.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 222 to 151, while 315 counters were unchanged, 1,473 untraded, and 29 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 546.33 million units worth RM254.14 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said the US stock markets rebounded as the Dow added 0.1 per cent after the US inflation data for May 2021 rose 5.0 per cent year-on-year; the steepest increase since August 2008, as the Federal Reserve viewed that the rise is transitory and does not warrant tapering of monetary stimulus any time soon.

“Despite a leap in the US inflation, Wall Street ended slightly higher as investors viewed the spike in consumer prices as a temporary effect of industries reopening following the lockdown.

“We reckon the positive sentiment on Wall Street, coupled with the climbing vaccination rate in the country, should move the local stocks higher,” it said.

Meanwhile, with the oil price continued to stay above US$72, it could benefit the oil and gas sector and may also see an upward move on the back of firmer oil price, it added.

The research firm said the technology sector may trend higher following the overnight gains on the Nasdaq Composite index.

“Besides, investors may shift their focus to recovery-theme stocks amid improving vaccination rate,” it said.

Of heavyweights, Maybank and HLB gained two sen each to RM8.20 and RM18.86, respectively, Public Bank and PetChem rose one sen each to RM4.21 and RM8.10, while TNB bagged four sen to RM9.97.

Among actives, Dagang Nexchange increased four sen to 89.5 sen, Vortex earned half-a-sen to 10.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik eased two sen to 62 sen.

Of top gainers, MPI strengthened 78 sen to RM38.28, Nestle improved 40 sen to RM135.20 and Transocean soared 26 sen to RM4.50.

MCOM was among the top losers, falling 19 sen to 10 sen, followed by Widetech, dropping 14 sen to RM2.82 and HLIB, shedding 11 sen to RM9.80.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 22.10 points to 11,547.22, the FBMT 100 Index added 21.94 points to 11,232.40, and the FBM ACE earned 6.00 points to 7,660.11.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 23.05 points to 12,692.04 and the FBM 70 strengthened 55.159 points to 14,980.41.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 27.61 points to 15,298.92, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.12 of-a-point to 192.52, and the Plantation Index rose 7.92 points to 6,771.32. — Bernama