KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investor sentiment improved on expectations that the West Asia conflict may ease soon.
At 9.23am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 14.12 points or 0.84 per cent to 1,704.48 from yesterday’s close of 1,690.36.
The key index opened 25.58 points firmer at 1,715.94.
Market breadth was positive with 433 gainers leading 200 losers. A total of 292 counters were unchanged, 1,700 untraded, and 10 suspended.
Turnover stood at 447.78 million shares worth RM324.14 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street staged a relief rally, following an unconfirmed report that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is open to ending the tension soon, with guarantees that US President Donald Trump is agreeable.
“The latest US-Iran developments may give global markets a solid push. We, thus, expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,700-1730 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 16 sen to RM11.52, Public Bank climbed six sen to RM4.74, CIMB increased 15 sen to RM7.70, Tenaga Nasional was up 18 sen to RM14.08, and IHH Healthcare was three sen higher at RM9.01.
On the most active list, Sunway Healthcare added six sen to RM2.06, Top Glove lost 4.5 sen to 64.5 sen, AirAsia X edged up three sen to RM1.14, TWL Holdings was flat at 2.5 sen, and Capital A inched up one sen to 42.5 sen.
Among top gainers, Nestle went up 80 sen to RM99.92, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 62 sen to RM29.40, Dutch Lady Milk Industries added 60 sen to RM32.30, Sunway Construction perked 29 sen to RM 6.66, and Petronas Gas widened 26 sen to RM18.22.
As for top losers, Petronas Chemical dropped 35 sen to RM5.72, Gas Malaysia reduced 20 sen to RM5.80, United Plantations contracted 18 sen to RM33.82, Petronas Dagangan weakened 16 sen to RM21.68, and Hap Seng Plantation eased nine sen to RM2.29.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index increased 92.69 points to 12,267.60, the FBM Emas Index rose 92.76 points to 12,397.14, the FBM 70 Index gained 89.32 points to 16,954.01, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 46.80 points to 12,164.01, and the FBM ACE Index edged up 46.03 points to 4,292.94.
By sector, the Financial Services Index surged 271.50 points to 20,295.49, and the Plantation Index inched up 0.06 of a point to 8,984.29.
In contrast, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.70 points to 181.20, and the Energy Index inched down 1.96 points to 795.58. — Bernama
