BURSA MALAYSIA REBOUNDS TO OPEN HIGHER

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open higher, boosted by renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights, which is in line with positive momentum on the regional market, an analyst said.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.93 points to 1,546.67, up from Thursday’s close of 1,542.74.

The benchmark index had opened 2.25 points higher at 1,544.99.

Turnover stood at 156.16 million shares, valued at RM77.70 million.

Market breadth was positive, with 202 gainers outnumbering 133 losers; 251 counters were unchanged, 1,781 untraded, and 10 suspended.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that given the positive performance in the US, the local bourse is expected to rebound as the Bursa Finance index has risen 8.0 per cent since the April 9 low, further supported by the 100 basis points cut in the Statutory Reserve Requirement, which injected approximately RM19 billion in liquidity into the banking system.

“Traders may look for trading opportunities in lagging banking stocks such as Alliance and AmBank.

“Meanwhile, we noticed the artificial intelligence (AI) theme has regained momentum following the potential revision of the (previous US President) Biden administration’s chip restriction act. This could spur trading interest in the construction, utility and technology sectors,” it said in a note today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank gained 4.0 sen to RM9.92, Public Bank and CIMB improved 1.0 sen each to RM4.46 and RM6.88, respectively. However, Tenaga Nasional slipped 2.0 sen to RM14.28, and IHH Healthcare fell 3.0 sen to RM6.98.

In active trade, Sapura Energy and Magma were flat at 4.5 sen and 35.5 sen, respectively, while Lotte Chemical added 7.0 sen to 61.5 sen and SFP Tech earned half-a-sen to 22 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index garnered 28.47 points to 11,520.28, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 28.95 points to 11,285.98, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 23.37 points to 11,456.70.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 43.04 points to 16,309.07, but the FBM ACE Index declined by 14 points to 4,646.86.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index climbed 47.67 points to 18,102.56, the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 0.67 of-a-point to 153.68, the Energy Index bagged 2.51 points to 688.95, and the Plantation Index perked 12.89 points to 7,213.92.

-- BERNAMA