KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Wednesday, supported by improved risk appetite across regional markets despite a weaker overnight performance on Wall Street.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 16.61 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 1,725.37 from Tuesday’s close of 1,708.76. The key index opened 13.74 points higher at 1,722.50.
The market breadth was positive, with 257 gainers leading 139 losers. A total of 238 counters were unchanged, 2,122 were untraded, and 24 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 168.76 million shares worth RM176.52 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street closed lower amid selling in technology and healthcare stocks. The Dow Jones Index lost 0.18 per cent to end at 46,124.06.
He expects trading activity to become cautious, with investors reluctant to open new long positions amid lingering uncertainties.
Sector-wise, he said interest is expected to remain centred on oil and gas counters, while crude palm oil prices holding above RM4,500 per tonne are likely to provide trading opportunities within the plantation space.
“In the absence of strong catalysts, the benchmark index is expected to trade within a narrow range of 1,700 to 1,720 for today as investors continue to monitor geopolitical developments and commodity price trends,” he said.
Among heavyweight counters, Maybank added 18 sen to RM11.52, Public Bank rose nine sen to RM4.95, CIMB and IHH Healthcare gained eight sen to RM7.91 and RM9.06, while Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM14.34.
On the most active list, Sunway Healthcare topped up 10 sen to RM2.10, AirAsia X was four sen higher at RM1.21, Eversendai fell nine sen to 26.5 sen, Borneo Oil was flat at half a sen, and Capital A increased half a sen to 41 sen.
Among the top gainers, Hong Leong Bank added 46 sen to RM22.92, Petronas Dagangan rose 38 sen to RM21.98, Fraser & Neave bounced 34 sen to RM30.06, and Nestle went up 28 sen to RM98.72.
Top losers included Petronas Chemicals, which slid 26 sen to RM5.54, while Batu Kawan went down 22 sen to RM19.58, PPB Group slid 12 sen to RM11.38, and MISC fell seven sen to RM8.21.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index jumped 103.30 points to 12,386.97, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 97.29 points to 12,519.10, and the FBM ACE Index firmed 18.71 points to 4,338.64.
The FBM 70 Index surged 72.08 points to 16,984.34, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index recovered 65.10 points to 12,236.72.
By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 263.15 points to 20,644.09, the Plantation Index rose 10.83 points to 8,649.30, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.40 of a point to 181.05.
The Energy Index lost 4.79 points to 783.21.
-- BERNAMA
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