KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Bursa Malaysia resumed trading after a five-day break on a higher note, lifted by positive market sentiment following the United States Federal Reserves’ highly anticipated 50 basis points rate hike and likely less aggressive future hikes to combat inflation.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 9.67 points to 1,610.10 from Friday’s close of 1,600.43.
The index opened 13.91 points higher at 1,614.34.
On the broader market, there were 278 gainers and 123 losers, while 257 counters were unchanged, 1,580 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 201.45 million worth RM112.16 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 932 points while the Nasdaq surged by 401 points.
“As for today, we reckon the FBM KLCI to see continuous buying activities but may see some resistance at around the 1,605-1,610 range,” he told Bernama.
Therefore, he said the index expected to hover between the 1,590-1,605 range today.
“On another note, crude palm oil continues its rise as it closed at around RM7,700 per tonne, while crude prices spiked on news that Europe would ban imports of Russian oil with Brent crude settling at the US$110 per barrel level,” he said.
Among the Bursa heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM9.09, Public Bank added four sen to RM4.73, Petronas Chemicals rose 56 sen to RM10.78, CIMB was six sen higher at RM5.26, while IHH Healthcare lost six sen to RM6.55.
Of the actives, PUC Bhd and Bina Puri Holdings were flat each at 7.5 sen and five sen respectively, Hibiscus Petroleum increased four sen to RM1.31, Dynaciate Group improved half-a-sen to 14.5 sen while MN Holdings shed half-a-sen to 24 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE perked 3.43 points to 5,582.10, FBM 70 ticked up 50.31 points to 13,822.49, FBM Emas Index expanded 63.43 points to 11,529.52, FBMT 100 Index bagged 61.00 points to 11,181.50, and FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 65.29 points to 12,087.57.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 77.93 points to 17,004.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 3.74 points better at 213.77 and the Plantation Index grew 33.43 points to 8,854.44. — Bernama
