KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher in a cautious trading mode today, taking the cue from overnight performance on Wall Street on tech stocks solid gains and the potential for more sanctions against Russia.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.65 of-a-point better at 1,599.57 from Monday’s close of 1,598.92.

The barometer index opened 2.74 points better at 1,601.66.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 258 to 100, while 250 counters were unchanged, 1,629 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 153.20 million worth RM76.27 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI underperformed regional peers as the key index traded below 1,600 amid profit-taking activities within selected heavyweights yesterday.

"We expect the market to remain volatile over the near term, while investors continue to monitor the potential of Western countries imposing more sanctions against Russia.

"Nevertheless, downside risk should be cushioned by continuous foreign inflows,” it said.

Meanwhile, the brokerage firm highlighted that European Union’s acceptance of Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccination and test certificates may bode well for the aviation sector moving forward.

Commodity-wise, it noted that both crude oil and crude palm oil (CPO) prices trended higher as global demand remained strong.

"For sectors in focus, given the rebound in CPO futures price, plantation stocks could be traded actively today. The investors and traders would also focus on the construction, building material and property sectors following the highway deals.

"Besides, selected technology stocks may trade positively in tandem with the Nasdaq movements overnight,” it added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM8.98, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healhcare gained one sen each to RM9.71 and RM6.29, respectively, while Public Bank and CIMB Group eased one sen each to RM4.69 and RM5.29, respectively.

Of the actives, BCM Alliance and Techna-X edged up half-a-sen each to four sen and 8.5 sen, respectively, Pappajack increased 1.5 sen to 47.5 sen, while Sapura Energy and Top Builders were flat at four sen and two sen, respectively.

On the index board, FBMT 100 Index gained 17.62 points to 11,161.83, FBM Emas Index added 20.27  points to 11,500.43, and FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 46.80 points to 12,126.33.

FBM 70 rose 75.24 points to 14,016.34 and FBM ACE bagged 7.66 points to 5,778.72.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.05 points to 208.46, the Plantation Index perked 38.28 points to 8,118.60, while the Financial Services Index slipped 26.96 points to 16,795.11. — Bernama