KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher today, in line with most regional markets.
At 9.25am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 6.82 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,419.86 from Monday's close of 1,413.04.
The benchmark index opened 0.18 of a point easier at 1,412.86.
The market breadth was positive with advancers outpacing decliners 240 to 144, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,772 untraded, and 20 others suspended
Turnover stood at 336.26 million units worth RM179.32 million
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd reckons the local bourse is likely to witness heightened volatility on worries over the global economic downturn as Wall Street slides deeper into a bear market.
"The energy and plantation sectors could face further selldown as commodity prices have extended a downward trending move.
“On the other hand, with the ringgit having skidded past RM4.60 against the US dollar, we believe it should benefit export-oriented companies at least for the near term,” the brokerage said in a research note today.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank added one sen to RM8.60, Public Bank, Petronas Chemicals, and CIMB all rose two sen to RM4.30, RM8.34, and RM5.32, respectively, while IHH Healthcare increased four sen to RM5.99 and Hong Leong Bank added two sen to RM20.60.
Of the actives, Ace Market debutant PT Resources went up 1.5 sen to 37.5 sen, Cnergenz jumped seven sen to RM1.09, Top Glove gained one sen to 64.5 sen, Harvest Miracle shed one sen to 13.5 sen and Velesto edged down half-a-sen to 11.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index widened 39.34 points to 10,133.04, the FBM 70 improved 24.32 points to 12,294.59, and the FBMT 100 Index earned 40.79 points to 9,880.25.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 51.75 points to 10,203.71 while the FBM ACE grew 11.45 points to 4,672.57.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 1.69 points higher at 684.04, the Plantation Index went up 52.76 points to 6,654.93, the Financial Services Index was firmer by 23.33 points at 16,112.52, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.77 of-a-point to 170.67. — Bernama
