KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, driven primarily by buying from foreign funds, said an analyst.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.68 points to 1,619.08 from yesterday's close of 1,615.40

The barometer index opened 0.59 of-a-point lower at 1,614.81.

On the broader market, gainers outperformed losers 274 to 156, with 334 counters unchanged, 1,581 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover was 246.60 million shares worth RM143.49 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI sprinted past the 1,610 mark. He believes the selling on the local bourse was overdone last week.

"We expect the buying to be foreign-induced, which should enable the benchmark index to break out from its recent consolidation.

"Therefore, we anticipate the index to hover between the 1,620-1,630 range today,” he told Bernama.

He added that Wall Street closed positively amid a muted session as traders await May’s payrolls data tomorrow, which, if weak, may induce the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

"As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 140 points while the Nasdaq added 28 points as the US 10-year yield eased to 4.33 per cent,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank added 2.0 sen to RM4.17, Tenaga Nasional rose by 12.0 sen to RM13.10, and IHH Healthcare gained by 1.0 sen to RM6.20.

Meanwhile, Maybank fell by 6.0 sen to RM10.00, and CIMB Group declined 4.0 sen to RM6.95.

Among the actives, Dagang Nexchange increased 1.0 sen to 47 sen, Datasonic Group gained half-a-sen to 51 sen, JCY International added 1.0 sen to 60.5 sen, and SNS Network Technology edged up 1.0 sen to 66.5 sen. IFCA MSC slid 1.0 sen to 53.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 25.50 points to 12,303.99, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 23.73 points to 11,907.70, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 50.87 points to 12,554.52, and the FBM 70 Index increased 21.23 points to 17,576.63 while the FBM ACE Index gained 12.91 points to 5,436.95.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index climbed 48.73 points to 7,227.73, the Industrial Products & Services Index ticked up 0.51 of-a-point to 197.40, while the Financial Services Index dipped 30.23 points to 17,693.65, and the Energy Index eased 0.09 of-a-point to 966.76. ― Bernama