KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, with investors positioning for potential pre-Merdeka buying interest ahead of the upcoming National Day celebrations.

At 9.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.66 points to 1,752.20 from Wednesday’s close of 1,748.54.

The benchmark index opened 4.12 points higher at 1,752.66.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 187 to 102. A total of 271 counters were unchanged, 2,313 untraded, and 124 suspended.

Turnover was at 111.40 million shares worth RM57.82 million.

Apex Securities Bhd said the FBM KLCI is expected to extend its upward momentum, with the index potentially seeing some pre-Merdeka buying interest.

“The ongoing earnings season is likely to keep investors selective, with corporate results and the latest company developments continuing to drive individual stock performance.

“Overall, we expect trading to remain selective, with stronger earnings results and improving sentiment potentially providing further support to individual counters and the broader market,” it said in a note.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said banking sector earnings are expected over the next few days, which will provide support for the local bourse.

“We believe in a steady performance from the banks. Thus, expect the index to trend within the 1,745-1,755 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM10.76. Public Bank and CIMB Group advanced one sen each to RM5.16 and RM8.09, respectively. Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM14.38, while IHH Healthcare was three sen lower at RM8.20.

On the most active list, MAG, Ingenieur Gudang and Nexgram inched down half a sen each to 15.5 sen, four sen, and 4.5 sen, respectively. Supermax added 3.5 sen to 34.5 sen, and Ni Hsin was a sen higher at 19 sen.

Top gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia, which went up 14 sen to RM15, BP Plastics advanced seven sen to 83 sen, Thong Guan Industries and Telekom Malaysia improved six sen each to RM1.67 and RM7.84, respectively. AWC perked five sen to 50.5 sen.

Among the top losers, United Plantations dropped 34 sen to RM31.18, Kumpulan Fima reduced 12 sen to RM2.73, Master-Pack eased 10 sen to RM1.60, YTL Power International edged down five sen to RM5.85, and Ranhill Utilities slipped four sen to RM2.50.

For the broader indices, the FBM 70 Index climbed 32.02 points to 18,260.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 34.06 points to 12,701.01, and the FBM Emas Index improved 27.56 points to 12,943.43.

The FBM Top 100 Index gained 25.56 points to 12,755.81, but the FBM ACE Index slipped 1.56 points to 5,351.39.

By sector, the Financial Services Index leapt 46.01 points to 20,501.77, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.50 of-a-point to 188.50.

The Plantation Index put on 2.02 points to 9,426.57, while the Energy Index ticked up 2.96 points to 778.10. — Bernama