KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today despite the subdued global equity markets as well as the mixed overnight session on Wall Street.

At the opening bell, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.02 points higher at 1,599.31 from 1,595.29 at yesterday’s close, before easing slightly to 1,597.02 at 9.06am.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 315 to 221, while 325 counters were unchanged, 1,316 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 671.38 million units worth RM232.03 million.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index eased 0.03 per cent, the Dow Jones rose 0.29 per cent, and Nasdaq trimmed 0.58 per cent.

In a note, Public Investment Bank said global equity markets pulled back yesterday from the record-high hit in the previous session, as investors offloaded shares of technology-related companies, while the prospect of rising inflation tempered optimism around the vaccine-led global economic recovery.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased four sen to RM8.05 and Top Glove trimmed five sen to RM6.14, while Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.20, PChem added two sen to RM7.55 and Tenaga improved eight sen to RM9.94.

Of the actives, Alam Maritim, Sapura Energy and Velesto Energy rose one sen each to 10.5 sen, 16 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.

Meanwhile, TA Win added three sen to 25 sen and Bumi Armada improved two sen to 40 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 22.26 points to 11,705.61, the FBMT 100 Index increased 16.53 points to 11,385.94, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 34.21 points higher at 13,152.46.

The FBM 70 added 38.43 points to 15,368.5, while the FBM ACE decreased 14.17 points to 11,252.39.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 13.84 points to 15,081.84, while the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.2 of-a-point to 182.78, and the Plantation Index inched up 22.56 points to 7,132.26. — Bernama