KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, taking its cue from Wall Street’s better performance overnight as sentiment improves after Iran said it will not escalate the conflict with Israel, said an analyst.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.34 points to 1,563.93 from yesterday's close of 1,559.59. The benchmark index opened 0.22 of-a-point better at 1,559.81.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners 232 to 132 while 273 counters were unchanged, 1,737 untraded, and 22 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 289.47 million units worth RM117.85 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said, the better sentiment saw the Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average rising 253 points while the Nasdaq added 169 points as the US 10-year yield eased marginally to 4.611 per cent.
He said Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by almost 290 points after Chinese regulators unveiled a series of market reforms to enhance the city’s status as an international financial hub.
"We suspect there may be some bargain-hunting activities by foreign funds following an exodus over the past few weeks.
"Hence, we believe the index may see more upside after the rebound in US equities overnight and expect it to hover within the 1,555-1,570 range today," he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Thong said several reports in the US, namely corporate earnings, gross domestic product, and the personal consumption expenditures data for March will be out this week, which will be crucial for the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 3.0 sen to RM9.77, Public Bank perked up 1.0 sen to RM4.21, CIMB gained 5.0 sen to RM6.67, Tenaga Nasional went up 2.0 sen to RM11.66, and Petronas Chemicals rose 4.0 sen to RM6.85.
As for the actives, ACE Market debutant Topmix surged 13.0 sen to 44 sen, Sapura Energy was half-a-sen higher at 5.0 sen, Reneuco put on 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen, and Ingenieur Gudang edged up half-a-sen to 14.5 sen, while Iconic Worldwide eased 1.5 sen to 9.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 35.74 points to 11,719.36, the FBMT 100 Index increased 33.70 points to 11,363.94, the FBM 70 Index advanced 57.15 points to 16,212.08, the FBM ACE Index jumped 24.63 points to 4,953.97, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 41.06 points to 11,876.47.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.70 of-a-point to 185.78, the Financial Services Index put on 48.48 points to 17,317.77, the Energy Index was 1.07 points firmer at 973.19, and the Plantation Index added 10.14 points to 7,426.33. ― Bernama
