Bursa Malaysia opens higher as buying sentiment tracks Wall Street gains

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, supported by improved investor sentiment, tracking Wall Street’s mostly positive performance last Friday.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index rose 1.13 points to 1,680.18 from Friday’s close of 1,679.05. The index opened 3.35 points higher at 1,682.40.

However, market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 190 to 144, while 316 counters were unchanged, 2,000 untraded, and 10 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 131.52 million shares worth RM66.48 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said Wall Street closed mostly higher last Friday, as the United States (US) futures indices were pointing upward as expectations of a rate hike diminished following weaker-than-expected US jobs data for May.

“With expectations of a rate hike easing, traders may be encouraged to return to equities,” he told Bernama, adding that he expects the index to move in the 1,675-1,695 range today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM10.84, CIMB Group gained one sen to RM7.61, and IHH Healthcare rose one sen to RM8.16, while Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.88, and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.28.

On the most active list, AMS Advanced Material rose eight sen to 49.5 sen, GIIB Holdings gained 1.5 sen to 51.5 sen, and EI Power added 1.5 sen to 73 sen,  while Nexgram Holdings fell half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, and Zetrix AI eased 1.5 sen to 77.5 sen, 

Top gainers included United Plantations, which added 14 sen to RM33.26, PTT Synergy increased nine sen to RM1.59 and Petronas Dagangan rose six sen to RM19.32, while both Paragon Union and Apollo Food rose four sen to RM1.74 and RM6.20, respectively.

Of the top losers, Nestle decreased 52 sen to RM90.68, Malaysian Pacific Industries slipped 48 sen to RM47.30, Hong Leong Bank lost 10 sen to RM21.72, Kelington Group eased 10 sen to RM7.90, and Vitrox Corporation declined eight sen to RM7.72.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 4.91 points to 12,461.92, the FBMT 100 Index gained 4.83 points to 12,288.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 1.02 points to 12,293.25 and the FBM ACE Index added 1.48 points to 4,896.09, while the FBM 70 Index fell 7.50 points to 17,832.86.

By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 17.27 points to 19,849.23 and the Plantation Index gained 4.16 points to 8,973.70, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.01 of-a-point to 182.43 and the Energy Index slid 0.73 of-a-point to 757.87. — Bernama