KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 ― Bursa Malaysia staged a rebound in early trade today amid improved buying sentiment in line with the positive Wall Street performance overnight.

At 9.53am, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 4.16 points to 1,405.97 from yesterday's close of 1,401.81.

The market bellwether opened 5.35 points higher at 1,407.16.

In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 319 to 204 while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,442 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 921.99 million units worth RM328.37 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said sentiment improved on Wall Street following the rescue deal for Credit Suisse, while investors may shift their focus to the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision tomorrow.

"We believe the local bourse will remain sideways until more clues are given after the conclusion of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting,” it said in a research note today.

Regarding the rebound on Wall Street, Malacca Securities said the technology sector may see a mild rebound following Nasdaq’s gains.

"Also, we expect investors to look for defensive stocks within the gold, consumer staples, and telecommunications sectors amid the uncertain global environment,” it added.

Of the Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank advanced five sen to RM8.39, Public Bank gained three sen to RM3.98, CIMB increased six sen to RM5.21, IHH Healthcare added two sen to RM5.86, Petronas Chemicals slipped seven sen to RM6.93, and TNB declined five sen to RM9.42.

Among the actives, Malaysia Building Society and Yew Lee Pacific improved one sen each to 65.5 sen and 35 sen, respectively, Green Packet and Sapura Energy were flat at 5.5 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively, and Hong Seng Consolidated and Niche Capital Emas both eased half-a-sen to 13.5 sen and 17.0 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 26.93 points to 10,276.04, the FBMT 100 Index firmed 25.30 points to 9,972.81, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index grew 6.58 points to 10,592.89.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 16.28 points to 13,228.17, and the FBM ACE Index bagged 39.71 points to 5,258.44.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded by 84.58 points to 15,538.60, the Plantation Index fell 8.63 points to 6,771.84, the Energy Index added 8.96 points to 794.17, and the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.14 of-a-point to 167.68. ― Bernama