KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday as buying activities emerged with the US Federal Reserve (Fed) keeping the rate steady, said an analyst.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.43 points to 1,452.99 from Wednesday’s close of 1,451.56.

The index opened 1.21 points better at 1,452.77.

However, the market breadth was negative with decliners leading gainers 161 to 136, while 251 counters were unchanged, 1,826 untraded, and 11 suspended.

Turnover stood at 145.91 million units worth RM63.49 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street had a rocky session before ending in negative territory as the Fed paused with its rate adjustments.

However, the US Fed has signalled another rate hike before the end of the year, Thong told Bernama.

"Back home, the FBM KLCI slid to almost the 1,450 level amid some unloading of stocks ahead of the Fed decision yesterday.

"Nonetheless, we reckon buying activities to re-emerge in view of the Fed’s inactivity. Thus, we expect the index to hover between the 1,450-1,460 range today,” he said.

He also expects support for banking stocks today following a minor sell-down over the past few days.

Among the heavyweights, both Maybank and TNB were flat at RM8.86 and RM10.12, respectively, Public Bank and CIMB added two sen each to RM4.21 and RM5.64, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals fell two sen to RM7.28.

Of the actives, Hextar Industries gained one sen to 41.5 sen, Top Glove Corp and Careplus Group inched up 1.5 sen each to 84.5 sen and 30 sen, respectively, Supermax Corp put on three sen to 88.5 sen and Tanco slid half-a-sen to 55 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 11.45 points to 10,766.49, the FBMT 100 Index firmed 11.89 points to 10,432.44, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 4.24 points to 11,022.70, and the FBM 70 Index inched up 23.29 points to 14,369.57.

Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index decreased by 21.65 points to 5,182.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 21.09 points to 16,239.48 and the Plantation Index increased 4.44 points to 6,983.15, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.13 of-a-point to 174.28, and the Energy Index went down 0.80 of-a-point to 903.33. — Bernama