KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today as bargain-hunting activities ensued, taking its cue from the overnight Wall Street performance as investors cheered the positive developments from the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.86 points to 1,585.28 from 1,583.42 at yesterday’s close.
The barometer index opened 2.13 points higher at 1,585.55.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 192 to 123, while 193 counters were unchanged, 1,784 untraded and 88 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 2.40 billion units worth RM1.87 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note today, said it expected a broad-based recovery in the local exchange.
“Meanwhile, on commodity prices, Brent crude oil traded lower at around the US$110 per barrel mark, while crude palm oil (CPO) prices hovered around RM6,000 (per tonne),” it said.
For sector in focus, as both the crude oil and CPO prices are still in a rangebound mode, it said traders may avoid the energy and plantation sectors, while the technology stocks may ride on the positive cues from Nasdaq overnight.
“Also, traders may position themselves in the recovery-themed stocks such as consumer, financial, tourism and aviation stocks in anticipation of the border reopening this Friday,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.93, Public Bank and CIMB added one sen each to RM4.64 and RM5.33, respectively, Petronas Chemicals lost two sen to RM9.56, and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.19.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy and BSL decreased half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively, while CSH Alliance, SMTrack, Pasukhas and Widad were flat at 15 sen, eight sen, two sen and 35.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM 70 recovered 93.63 points to 13,719.07, the FBM Emas Index inched up 25.0 points to 11,343.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rebounded 20.43 points to 11,914.75, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 27.54 points to 11,029.76, and the FBM ACE rose 54.75 points to 5,613.14.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.25 of-a-point to 203.90 and the Plantation Index trimmed 10.81 points to 7,976.91, while the Financial Services Index ticked up 52.95 points to 16,720.30. ― Bernama
