.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on renewed buying interest after undergoing selling pressure on Monday amid concerns over new Covid-19 variant Omicron, said an analyst.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded 2.56 points to 1,513.13 from 1,510.57 yesterday.
The benchmark index opened 2.01 points firmer at 1,512.58.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 214 to 155, while 254 counters were unchanged, 1,682 untraded, and 63 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 383.69 million units worth RM189.85 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that the positive overnight Wall Street performance might have provided some support for the local equities.
“We think selling pressure is overdone for the near term, contributing to oversold signals and hammer candlesticks on most of the stocks.
“Also, some economists claimed that the economic impact stemming from the Covid-19 Omicron variant will be less severe than that in 2020,” it said in its Morning Pulse note today.
On the commodity markets, the brokerage firm said a mild rebound was noticed in both crude palm oil and crude oil prices.
It reckoned that the technology counters should continue to be in a sweet spot for investors considering its high earnings visibility going forward, coupled with the overnight rebound on Wall Street.
“Besides, the healthcare stocks may be traded actively, but upside might be capped after a significant rally,” it said.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB dropped two sen each at RM8.03 and RM5.09 respectively, Public Bank added one sen to RM3.97 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM9.34.
Petronas Chemicals and IHH were flat each at RM8.21 and RM6.60, respectively.
Of the actives, ATA IMS erased 9.5 sen to 42.5 sen, BCM Alliance eased one sen to 5.5 sen, and Borneo Oil was flat at 2.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, MPI rose 90 sen to RM49.76. Genetec was 50 sen higher at RM38.20, and KLK increased 28 sen to RM20.42.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 26.78 points to 11,081.65, the FBMT 100 Index rose 26.26 points to 10,766.50, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 35.81 points to 12,096.73.
The FBM 70 increased 67.09 points to 14,449.41 while the FBM ACE fell 1.47 points to 6,514.44.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.29 of-a-point to 192.34 and the Plantation Index perked 20.61 points to 6,376.93 but the Financial Services Index reduced 4.94 points to 15,038.47. ― Bernama
