KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on emerging bargain hunting in heavyweight stocks after the local bourse ended below the crucial 1,600 level last Friday, said an analyst.

At 9.11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.13 points to 1,600.81 from last Friday's close of 1,596.68.

The barometer index opened 0.74 of a point lower at 1,595.94.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 343 to 271, with 349 counters unchanged, 1,389 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Turnover was 415.88 million shares worth RM252.56 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expected the FBM KLCI to play some catch-up today after ending below the crucial 1,600 level last Friday.

"We see bargain-hunting activities emerging, thus anticipating the index to hover between 1,600 and 1,615 today,” he told Bernama.

He said Wall Street closed on a mixed note following weak United States (US) manufacturing and construction data as well as falling crude oil prices.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115 points while the Nasdaq gained 94 points as Nvidia boosted technology sentiment with its next-generation artificial intelligence chip platform.

"Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield eased to 4.39 per cent,” he said.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 323 points following a tame US inflation report last Friday and news that China’s factory activity grew at its fastest pace in the last two months, he said.

"Expectations that the European Central Bank may lower interest rates this Thursday will further improve trading sentiment regionally,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 2.0 sen to RM9.95, Public Bank rose 1.0 sen to RM4.11 and CIMB gained 9.0 sen to RM6.93.

Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional fell 10 sen to RM12.94 and IHH Healthcare declined 5.0 sen to RM6.14.

Among the actives, JCY International rose 2.0 sen to 54.5 sen, Berjaya Corporation gained 1.0 sen to 30 sen and Sealink International added 2.5 sen to 30.5 sen, while Smtrack Bhd was unchanged at 4.5 sen.

Meanwhile, Velesto Energy decreased by half-a-sen to 26 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 36.78 points to 12,198.30, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 31.27 points to 11,800.93, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 28.77 points to 12,421.13, and the FBM 70 Index gained 49.79 points to 17,531.33 while the FBM ACE Index decreased 8.25 points to 5,381.32.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index ticked up 54.69 points to 17,580.91, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.13 of-a-point to 194.99, the Energy Index increased 2.97 points to 970.33 and the Plantation Index added 38.78 points to 7,110.18.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Products & Services Index eased 0.19 of-a-point to 598.83,

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed yesterday in conjunction with the public holiday for the King’s birthday. ― Bernama