KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 ― Bursa Malaysia was higher in early trade despite Wall Street's downbeat performance overnight.
At 9.25am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 3.90 points to 1,551.50 from yesterday’s close of 1,547.60.
The benchmark index, however, opened 2.08 of-a-point weaker at 1,545.52.
Market sentiment was positive with gainers leading losers 287 to 277, while 336 counters were unchanged, 1,409 untraded and 47 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 649.16 million units worth RM299.95 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed lower overnight after a record-breaking run last week as traders were now focusing on fresh economic data as high-interest rate regime may linger a bit longer.
“As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 62 points while the Nasdaq declined 21 points with the US 10-year yield inching higher at 4.28 per cent.
“Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended lower as traders were on the sidelines, waiting for quarterly results from the likes of Baidu, Li Auto and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd coupled with hopefully more stimulus from Beijing,” he told Bernama.
Back home, Thong said though the daily volume in Malaysia remains low, the recent influx of foreign funds into the local bourse will see an expansion of valuation among the blue chips that may have a positive impact on the smaller cap stocks going forward.
“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,545-1,555 range,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank edged up one sen to RM4.47, CIMB perked two sen to RM6.45, and Tenaga Nasional increased four sen to RM11.40, while Maybank shed one sen to RM9.50 and Petronas Chemicals lost 23 sen to RM6.76.
As for the actives, YTL Corporation gained 13 sen to RM2.63, Master Tec added four sen to 69 sen, and Cape EMS dropped 17.5 sen to 95.5 sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated and TWL Holdings were flat at two sen and 3.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 23.59 points firmer at 11,520.87, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 26.01 points to 11,174.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 8.02 points to 11,537.94, and the FBM 70 Index notched up 27.77 points to 15,535.50; but the FBM ACE Index was 10.82 points lower at 4,834.98.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 26.78 points to 17,346.19, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.50 points to 176.43, the Plantation Index climbed 19.74 points to 7,179.43, and the Energy Index fell 7.07 points to 929.16. ― Bernama
