BURSA MALAYSIA STARTS FIRMER ON UPBEAT SENTIMENT

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.  

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.74 points to 1,518.34 from Tuesday’s close of 1,513.60.  

The benchmark index opened 3.10 points higher at 1,516.61.  

On the broader market, gainers edged out decliners 138 to 123, with 230 counters unchanged, 1,978 untraded, and 46 suspended.  

Turnover stood at 136.72 million shares worth RM71.21 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended higher as investors assessed consumer sentiment data and anticipated a more flexible trade policy stance from US administration next week.  

He said the three major indices finished in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq gaining 0.01 per cent and 0.46 per cent, respectively, while the S&P 500 added 0.16 per cent.  

Across Asia, markets ended mixed as investors in China and Hong Kong took profits, dragging the Hang Seng Index down 2.35 per cent.  

Domestically, Thong said that despite the FBM KLCI’s rebound, the online trading platform maintains a cautious outlook amid persistent global uncertainties.  

“We foresee buying support for blue-chip counters, keeping the benchmark index within the 1,510-1,520 range,” he told Bernama.  

Among heavyweights, Public Bank added 3.0 sen to RM4.47, CIMB and Sunway rose 4.0 sen each to RM7.04 and RM4.50, respectively, Tenaga climbed 6.0 sen to RM13.66, and Maybank gained 2.0 sen to RM10.24.  

Among actives, ACE Market debutant Chemlite Innovation Bhd fell 2.0 sen to 23 sen. The stock opened at 23 sen per share, down 8.0 per cent from its initial public offering price of 25 sen.  

Other actives included Reneuco, which added half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, Mestron, which shed half-a-sen to 25.5 sen, Pegasus Heights, which was flat at 1.0 sen, JCY, which declined half-a-sen to 42 sen, and Aizo, which was unchanged at 10.5 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 23.48 points to 11,374.98, the FBMT 100 Index gained 24.89 points to 11,113.31, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 16.27 points to 11,106.46. The FBM 70 Index, however, shed 2.77 points to 16,303.79, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 4.79 points to 4,750.59.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 67.36 points to 18,491.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.04 of-a-point to 153.36, and the Plantation Index advanced 8.89 points to 7,446.56. The Energy Index, however, eased 0.78 of-a-point to 753.80.  

-- BERNAMA