KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower but rebounded thereafter, continuing last session’s uptrend, as investor sentiment was buoyed by the overnight Wall Street gains.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.59 of-a-point higher at 1,523.48 from 1,522.89 at Tuesday’s close.

The index opened 0.47 of-a-point easier at 1,522.42.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 160 to 133, while 231 counters were unchanged, 1,807 untraded and 48 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 120.44 million units worth RM70.26 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said the US stockmarkets rebounded as the Dow rose 0.2 per cent, lifted by the strong retail sales data that rose 16.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in October 2021, exceeding economists’ expectations of 12.0 per cent YoY improvement.

“Tracking the slightly bullish tone on Wall Street overnight, we expect buying support to spillover to stocks on the local bourse, especially in technology stocks as Nasdaq closed near an all-time-high region.

“As we are entering the reporting season, we believe market players will focus on solid fundamental companies such as plantation and blue-chip for now,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals rose two sen each to RM8.11 and RM8.33, respectively, and Public Bank, IHH Healthcare and Tenaga bagged one sen each to RM4.03, RM6.56 and RM9.60, respectively.

As for the actives, NWP increased one sen to 39 sen, and JAG, Tanco and TA Win were flat at 39.5 sen, 27.5 sen and 14 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 7.75 points to 11,271.22, the FBMT 100 Index gained 5.44 points to 10,908,22, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 0.71 of-a-point to 12,267.20, the FBM ACE climbed 32.77 points to 6,891.0, and the FBM 70 strengthened 12.19 points to 14,907.50. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 22.38 points to 15,176.37, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.14 of-a-point to 199.91, while the Plantation Index went up 12.46 points to 6,533.82. — Bernama