KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on the first trading day of May, supported by continued net foreign inflows and bolstered by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) upbeat outlook on Malaysia’s economic prospects.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 8.82 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,730.84 from Thursday’s close of 1,722.02. The benchmark index opened 6.72 points firmer at 1,728.74.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 313 to 154. A total of 365 counters were unchanged, 1,789 untraded and 24 suspended.

Turnover stood at 177.02 million shares worth RM90.92 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended on mixed note as the S&P 500 touched another record high, spearheaded by technology stocks following earnings reports.

This is despite crude oil prices remaining elevated amid the uncertainty overhanging the negotiations between the US and Iran.

On the domestic front, he believes foreign funds will maintain its net inflows, underscored by the IMF’s recent positive outlook on the country’s economy.

“As such, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,720-1,735 range today,” he said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM11.14, Public Bank, CIMB and IHH Healthcare all rose five sen to RM4.73, RM7.71 and RM8.87 respectively. Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.54.

On the most active list, SMRT increased 1.5 sen to 18 sen, GIIB added 4.5 sen to 15.5 sen, Nova fell half a sen to five sen, AirAsia gained three sen to RM1.23 and Malaysian Resources rose half a sen to 3.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific increased RM1.58 to RM38.20, KESM rose 27 sen to RM4.35, while United Plantations and Petronas Dagangan added 26 sen each to RM32 and RM20.44.

Among the top losers, Nestle slipped 20 sen to RM108.20, Petronas Chemicals inched down 18 sen to RM5.74, PPB fell 16 sen to RM11.36, Southern Acids decreased 15 sen to RM3.05 and Hibiscus Petroleum was five sen weaker at RM2.15.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 71.31 points to 12,795.06, the FBM Top 100 Index strengthened 72.58 points to 12,633.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 61.31 points to 12,779.68, the FBM Mid 70 Index soared 140.02 points to 18,226.0, and the FBM ACE Index rose 3.22 points to 4,621.33.

By sector, the Energy Index dropped 4.58 points to 836.09, while the Financial Services Index jumped 131.57 points to 20,016.60. The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.09 of a point to 196.22 and the Plantation Index rose 66.08 points to 9,005.39. — Bernama