KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher in the early trading session today, as oil prices continued to rally despite weaker performance on Wall Street and regional markets, a dealer said.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 4.84 points to 1,588.68 from 1,583.84 at yesterday's close, after opening 2.12 points higher at 1,585.96.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 241 to 133, while 269 counters were unchanged, 1,569 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 223.30 million units worth RM116.13 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse continued its uptrend for the fifth consecutive day despite regional market weaknesses.
“The market is currently overbought, hence, we may see some profit-taking activities emerge anytime soon.
“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,575 to 1,590 range,” he told Bernama.
Heavyweights Press Metal and Sime Darby Plantation rose nine sen each to RM6.79 and RM4.33, respectively, IHH Healthcare firmed seven sen to RM6.57, and PPB Group advanced 30 sen to RM16.90.
As for the actives, Sapura Energy stayed flat at 4.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange increased two sen to RM1.17, AHB put on 1.5 sen to 23 sen, and KNM was half-a-sen higher at 18.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE eased 7.77 points to 6,241.73, FBM 70 improved 44.64 points to 13,704.70, FBM Emas Index bagged 36.58 points to 11,358.30, FBMT 100 Index advanced 34.13 points to 11,040.18, and FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 56.1625.70 points to 12,078.93.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 8.80 points to 16,392.16, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.34 points better at 211.77, and the Plantation Index climbed 76.03 points to 7,361.39. ― Bernama
