BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS HIGHER ON BARGAIN HUNTING IN BLUE CHIP STOCKS

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia recovered from yesterday's sharp losses, thanks to bargain hunting among blue chip stocks, despite mixed Wall Street performance overnight.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) soared 8.75 points at 1,594.34, compared with Monday’s close of 1,585.59. 

The index opened 7.38 points higher at 1,592.97.

Across the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners 244 to 94, with 256 counters unchanged, 1,765 untraded, and 17 suspended.

Turnover was 196.98 million shares, valued at RM103.95 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed mixed as traders shifted their holdings in technology stocks to other sectors, particularly the power industry while keeping an eye on tomorrow’s US consumer price index report.

Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield edged higher to 4.79 per cent, he said.

"On a broader scale, Asian markets declined as the prospects of rate cuts in the US diminished following strong job data.

"Given the recent sell-off, investors are recalibrating their strategies and staying on the sidelines ahead of the potential return of ‘Tariff Trump'. We believe this presents a good opportunity for bargain hunting,” he told Bernama.

Thong added that Trump 2.0 may not be as assertive, as this could risk isolating the US from the rest of the world.

For today, he anticipates the index to hover within the 1,580-1,595 range.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained eight sen to RM10.16, CIMB added two sen to RM8.12 and IHH increased nine sen to RM7.19. In contrast, Public Bank was flat at RM4.45 and Tenaga fell four sen to RM13.86.

Gamuda, which resumed its trading today, rose 21 sen to RM5.00.

In active stocks, Velocity Capital, Industronics, Swift Energy and Ekovest were half-a-sen higher to 8.5 sen, four sen, 38 sen and 35 sen, respectively.  TWL Holdings inched down half-a-sen to 2.5 sen.

On the broader index, the FBM Emas Index gained 64.21 points to 12,243.57, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 70.46 points to 12,181.32, and the FBMT 100 Index climbed 63.71 points to 11,928.36.

The FBM 70 Index added 91.51 points to 18,399.95, while the FBM ACE Index increased 9.42 points to 5,255.45.

By sector, the Energy Index grew 4.91 points to 840.70, the Financial Services Index jumped 50.76 points to 18,883.91, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.74 of-a-point to 169.20, and the Plantation Index gained 34.26 points to 7,477.21.

-- BERNAMA