KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 ― Bursa Malaysia opened mixed but turned higher thereafter today as the market rebounded from its seven-day losing streak amid mounting concerns over geopolitical tensions, as well as ongoing worries about the anticipated interest rate increase in the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 2.86 points to 1,511.77 from 1,508.91 at yesterday's close, after opening 0.13 of-a-point lower at 1,508.78.
The market breadth on Bursa Malaysia was positive with gainers leading losers 150 to 97, while 201 counters were unchanged, 1,832 untraded and 30 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 100.62 million units worth RM50.18 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said altough bargain-hunting has emerged, overall sentiment of the market remains jittery and still heavily dependent on the regional volatility.
“Though the 1,500 level seems to be a rather resilient support, if broken, we’ll see the next support to be around the 1,480 level,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Wall Street ran into another volatile day as all three major indices closed in negative territory ahead of the US Federal Reserves tighter policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was 67 points lower following a wild session while Nasdaq declined 316 points to just above the 13,500 mark.
Commodity-wise, Thong said crude palm oil remains elevated at above the RM5,400 level, while Brent crude improved at around US$88 per barrel.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare added one sen each to RM8.24, RM8.91, RM6.34, respectively, Public Bank and CIMB rose two sen each to RM4.20 and RM5.27, respectively, while Tenaga and PMetal gained four sen each to RM9.10 and RM6.04, respectively.
As for the actives, Pertama Digital added half-a-sen to 64.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange perked 2.5 sen to 88.5 sen, and Senheng up two sen to 87.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM ACE increased 21.29 points to 5,992.29, the FBM 70 improved 25.54 points to 13,356.56, while the FBM Emas Index rose 20.21 points to 10,843.54, the FBMT 100 Index strengthened 20.02 points to 10,561.61, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 15.81 points to 11,516.60.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 41.42 points to 15,702.32, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.29 of-a-point to 198.91, while the Plantation Index weakened 5.93 points to 6,625.38. ― Bernama
