BURSA MALAYSIA MARGINALLY HIGHER AT OPENING

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on mild bargain-hunting while tracking the positive sentiment from the overnight Wall Street, said an analyst.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.54 of-a-point to 1,611.49, from Monday’s close of 1,610.95.

The benchmark index was 0.87 of-a-point higher at 1,611.82 at the opening. 

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 208 to 126, while 303 counters were unchanged, 1,978 untraded, and 81 suspended.

Turnover stood at 213.66 million units worth RM77.74 million.

Rakuten Trade vice-president Thong Pak Leng said sentiment on Wall Street improved driven by artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks after earlier concerns over the AI build-up.

Traders were also monitoring the potential United States government shutdown on Wednesday that could lead to a mass furlough of federal workers.

Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield inched lower at 4.141 per cent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rebounded as traders bought shares in car makers, solar energy firms and metal producers amid signs that Beijing’s crackdown on price wars is bearing fruits.

Sentiment was further lifted by the People’s Bank of China’s pledge to step up easing measures to support growth.

Back home, he said the FBM KLCI closed marginally higher on Monday on muted buying activities.

“Foreign funds may have turned into net sellers after encouraging net foreign inflows a few weeks ago.

“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,605-1,615 range. Finally, gold price hit another record high topping above the US$3,800 per ounce,” Thong told Bernama. 

Among heavyweights, Press Metal Aluminium and Gamuda ticked up three sen each to RM5.94 and RM5.55 respectively, while YTL Power International, Petronas Chemicals and SD Guthrie gained two sen each to RM4.20, RM4.37, and RM5.26 respectively. 

In active trade, NexG Bina added half-a-sen to 10 sen, TWL, Trive and JS Solar were flat at 2.5 sen, 1.5 sen and 42 sen respectively, while Notion Vtec was 4.5 sen higher at 64.5 sen. 

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which rose 18 sen ro RM29.28, United Plantations increased 16 sen to RM23.02; Plenitude rose 13 sen to RM2.35; Panasonic Manufacturing expanded 11 sen to RM8.65; and Malaysian Cement up 10 sen to RM7.05.

Among top losers, Nestle declined 58 sen to RM96.52, F&N slipped 12 sen to RM27.18; Crescendo fell seven sen to RM1.38; and Kawan Food shed six sen to RM1.01.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index accumulated 11.14 points to 11,999.59, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 8.16 points to 11,732.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 25.98 points to 12,035.62, the FBM 70 Index climbed 30.26 points to 16,814.11, but the FBM ACE Index slid 6.22 points to 5,183.64.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.59 of-a-point to 172.34, the Energy Index advanced 4.78 points to 783.04, the Plantation Index gained 16.91 points to 7,788.48, but the Financial Services Index eased 21.58 points to 18,242.30.

-- BERNAMA