KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 ― Bursa Malaysia turned higher this morning as upbeat earnings forecasts boosted investors’ risk appetites after the long weekend.

At 9.09am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.87 points to 1,447.05 from Friday's closing of 1,445.18.

The index opened 0.28 of-a-point easier at 1,444.90.

On the broader market, gainers trumped decliners 214 to 136, while 314 counters were unchanged, 1,715 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 344.15 million units valued at RM82.26 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it believes traders will be staking their positions ahead of the quarterly performance reporting season in the construction, property, building material, utilities and consumer sectors, in anticipation of stronger results.

"After the long weekend break, we expect buying interest to spillover to stocks on the local front, especially the technology stocks, and the focus may also shift back to the oil and gas sector following the rebound in oil prices,” it said in a note.

As for the overseas market, Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed on a mixed note as traders looked at the United States’ (US) consumer price index (CPI) for October to gauge the US Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook later today.

"The US market sentiment was also affected by Moody’s latest cut in its rating outlook on the US, due to the huge fiscal deficit and political bickering.

"Hence, despite the Dow Jones adding 0.16 per cent, the Nasdaq lost 0.22 per cent with the US 10-year Treasury yield remaining flat at 4.642 per cent,” he said.

At home, heavyweights Press Metal, Sime Darby, Genting and Westports gained five sen to RM4.89, RM2.39, RM4.20 and RM3.51, respectively.

Meanwhile, Maybank, CIMB and Petronas Chemicals remained flat at RM9.08, RM5.75 and RM7.19, respectively.

Of the actives, Hong Seng added one sen to 5.5 sen, while Asdion and Tanco decreased half a sen to 6.5 sen and 57.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 15.88 points higher at 10,707.357, the FBMT 100 Index went up 14.53 points to 10,368.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 15.09 points to 10,912.26 and the FBM 70 Index was 25.04 points better at 14,186.973, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 7.69 points to 5,124.96.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 12.14 points to 16,308.21, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.52 points to 172.92, the Energy Index advanced 0.45 points to 859.79, while the Plantation Index dropped 1.11 points to 6,921.18. ― Bernama