KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on renewed buying interest after undergoing selling pressure for two consecutive days, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight, a dealer said.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.58 points to 1,495.15 from Wednesday’s close of 1,490.57.
The benchmark index opened 1.09 points firmer at 1,491.66.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 197 to 80, while 164 counters were unchanged, 1,794 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 154.83 million units worth RM54.89 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street staged a strong rebound as the Dow Jones Index rose by 1.3 per cent, driven by the Institute of Supply Management's (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which rose to a three-month high at 56.7 in July 2022, as well as solid corporate earnings.
“Given that the market treated the United States (US) House of Representatives’ speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a non-event, we believe the sentiment will recover along with the regional peers after the sharp gains in the US following the robust economic data and stronger corporate earnings,” it said in a note today.
As for commodities, the brokerage noted that the crude oil price continued to fall, trading below US$100 per barrel, while the crude palm oil price dropped to around RM3,800 per tonne.
On sectors, it said the technology sector may rebound higher, taking the positive cue from the strong gains in the Nasdaq overnight.
However, it said the energy sector might take a breather amidst declining crude oil prices.
“Meanwhile, Indonesia’s move to lift the ban on its workers from entering Malaysia could boost the sentiment on the plantation and construction sectors,” the firm added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 4.0 sen to RM8.87, both Public Bank and CIMB rose 1.0 sen each to RM4.62 and RM5.24, respectively, Petronas Chemicals gained 8.0 sen to RM8.98 and IHH Healthcare increased 3.0 sen to RM6.45.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance was half-a-sen higher at 6.5 sen and SFP Tech expanded by 2.5 sen to 89.5 sen, while Green Packet fell half-a-sen to 5.5 sen and ARB and Vinvest Capital were flat at 11.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 39.66 points to 10,752.71, the FBM ACE went up 18.41 points to 4,808.86, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 32.89 points to 10,356.64, the FBM Emas Index earned 34.63 points to 10,606.85 and the FBM 70 grew 44.95 points to 12,696.66.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved by 34.30 points to 16,604.45 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.83 of-a-point to 186.03, while the Energy Index reduced by 3.16 points to 657.58 and the Plantation Index weakened by 36.51 points to 6,991.50. — Bernama
