KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today in cautious mode, taking the cue from Wall Street’s rise overnight on optimism of a more benign US interest rate outlook and the easing in oil prices, a trader said.

At 9.06am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.22 of-a-point to 1,456.11 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,455.89.

The index opened 0.79 of a point better at 1,456.68.

The market breadth was positive, with gainers leading decliners 148 to 135, while 235 counters were unchanged, 1,856 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 398.77 million units valued at RM66.48 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that the FBM KLCI ended lower yesterday with selling mainly in commodity-related stocks.

"We expect accumulation to persist given the attractive valuations of local equities accompanied by the improved sentiment following the rally on Wall Street overnight.

"As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend higher within the range of 1,455 to 1,465 today,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil slipped 0.38 per cent to US$81.65 per barrel.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank added one sen to RM9.11, Tenaga gained two sen to RM10, while CIMB and Petronas Chemicals shed two sen each to RM5.75 and RM7.23, respectively. Public Bank was flat at RM4.27.

Of the actives, Sealink slid two sen to 20 sen, TA Win eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen and Eita warrant added two sen to eight sen. Hong Seng, Sarawak Consolidated and Top Glove were flat at three sen, 65.5 sen and 84 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 3.19 points easier at 10,792.38, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 0.31 of-a-point to 10,454.03 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 3.36 points to 10,989.63.

The FBM 70 Index fell 8.58 points to 14,395.79 but the FBM ACE Index bagged 1.93 points to 5,204.26.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 2.74 points to 16,393.74, the Energy Index lost 3.14 points to 862.31and the Plantation Index was 7.27 points weaker at 6,953.41. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.08 of-a-point to 174.13. — Bernama