KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher and retreated thereafter today, bucking global trends as shares rose for the 11th day in a row to reach a fresh peak on optimism about the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and a new fiscal aid from Washington.

At 9.08am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.72 of-a-point to 1,607.35 from 1,608.07 at yesterday’s close.

The index opened 3.97 points higher at 1,612.04.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 324 to 207, while 347 counters were unchanged, 1,283 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 702.81 million units worth RM308.11 million

Public Investment Bank, in a note, said as more people are vaccinated across key markets such as the United States (US), and with US President Joe Biden looking to pump an extra US$1.9 trillion in stimulus into the economy, the so-called reflation trade has gathered steam in recent days.

"Taking its cue from a stronger, albeit holiday-thinned, Asian session, Europe’s major indices were a sea of green in early deals, with Britain’s FTSE 100 up 2.2 per cent.

"With China and Hong Kong markets still closed for the Chinese New Year holiday, Japan’s Nikkei led the way, climbing 1.9 per cent to reclaim the 30,000-point level for the first time in more than three decades,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.15, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.23, Top Glove added one sen to RM6.18, while PChem eased two sen to RM7.54 and Tenaga decreased 19 sen to RM9.99.

Of the actives, ARB Bhd improved 3.5 sen to 37 sen, DGB Asia and Dagang Nexchange rose 1.5 sen each to 11 sen and to 55 sen, respectively, while Techna-X trimmed one sen to 16.5 sen and Luster Industries eased half-a-sen to 23.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 8.6 points to 11,745.47, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 5.0 points to 11,446.11, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 0.68 of-a-point higher at 13,210.89.

The FBM 70 rose 45.76 points to 15,397.61, while the FBM ACE decreased 3.4 points to 11,227.84.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 19.89 points to 15,135.85, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.31 of-a-point to 182.12, while the Plantation Index inched down 1.06 points to 7,194.84. ― Bernama