KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open slightly higher on Thursday, tracking the Wall Street's rally overnight amidst improving consumer confidence, said an analyst.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.18 per cent or 2.57 points to 1,465.12 from Wednesday's closing of 1,462.55.
The market bellwether opened 1.24 points better at 1,463.79.
On the broader market, advancers led decliners 229 versus 123, while 238 counters were unchanged, 1,674 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 353.75 million units worth RM104.16 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believes that buying interest may spill over to the regional markets as well as the local bourse amidst improving consumer confidence in the United States (US), as well as easing inflation expectations.
“The technology sector could stage a rebound following a strong surge on the Nasdaq. Additionally, we expect buying interest to emerge in the oil and gas sector amid firmer Brent oil prices.
“Investors may also focus on the construction and building material sectors as the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project will continue at a lower cost," it said in a note.
The brokerage firm said the support level is located at 1,460-1,450, while the resistance is pegged along 1,500-1,510.
On commodities, Brent crude oil price rose above US$82 after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory draw of 5.9 million barrels last week, while crude palm oil price hovered above RM3,950.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost four sen to RM8.74 and TNB eased one sen to RM9.16, while both Public Bank and CIMB added one sen to RM4.42 and RM5.80, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals gained eight sen to RM8.16.
Of the actives, Serba Dinamik and Citaglobal bagged half-a-sen each to 1.5 sen and 29.5 sen, respectively, Reneuco improved 6.5 sen to 32 sen and Sarawak Consolidated Industries climbed 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, while XOX was flat at two sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 23.01 points to 10,517.76, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 33.28 points higher at 10,585.45, the FBM 70 Index strengthened 37.60 points to 12,851.28, the FBM ACE Index increased 23.57 points to 5,489.42 and the FBMT 100 Index garnered 20.66 points to 10,226.19.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index earned 28.01 points to 6,801.36, the Energy Index added 6.86 points to 791.13 and the Industrial Products and Services Index recovered 0.66 of-a-point to 176.05.
However, the Financial Services Index eased by 1.08 points to 16,601.10. — Bernama
