KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index rose after five days of losses as fresh interest emerged with investors piling into recently beaten-down heavyweights.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.4 points to 1,626.70 from Friday’s close of 1,618.30.

The benchmark index opened 4.04 points firmer at 1,622.34.

Market breadth was still negative, with decliners trouncing advancers 161 to 137, while 290 counters were unchanged, 1,914 untraded and 30 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 127.61 million units valued at RM71.07 million.

With the ringgit easing towards RM4.337 against the US dollar, export-oriented sectors like gloves and technology are likely to benefit, while traders may shift away from domestic-focused stocks, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said.

"Also, commodity-related sectors such as plantation, oil and gas, as well as gold-related stocks, stand to gain from recent underlying commodity price movements,” it said in a note today, adding that selected construction and shipping stocks may also trend positively as momentum builds.

In the commodities market, Brent crude oil rebounded close to US$76, but it is likely to retrace as Middle East tensions ease, while gold prices rallied towards an all-time high zone, and crude palm oil (CPO) prices, continued to hold above the RM4,500 mark.

Nevertheless, Wall Street offers few leads amid its mixed performance as traders evaluated a range of corporate earnings and economic data.

"US durable goods orders fell in September, yet consumer sentiment climbed to its highest level since April; the Dow and S&P 500 retreated from their record highs, while the Nasdaq saw a rebound,” it noted.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said a swift rebound is required to above the 1,630 mark to avoid a prolonged consolidation of the local bourse.

"We expect the index to stay sideways possibly oscillating between the 1,620 and 1,630 range today,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, only Tenaga Nasional is in the red, losing six sen to RM14.32.

Public Bank and CIMB bagged seven sen to RM4.48 and RM8.19 respectively. YTL and Maxis increased five sen to RM3.05 and RM3.72 and IHH was four sen higher at RM7.54.

Newly listed Sorento Capital led the active counters, adding 1.5 sen to 38.5 sen, while Ingenieur Gudang, Alpha IVF, Yew Lee Pacific and Handal Energy were flat at 5.0 sen, 35.5 sen, 56 sen and 7.0 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rebounded 50.88 points to 12,271.50, the FBM 70 Index went up 48.20 points to 17,762.87, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 53.41 points to 11,975.35, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 37.27 points to 12,237.25, but the FBM ACE Index shed 5.58 points to 5,095.43.

By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 96.97 points to 19,359.00, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.40 of-a-point to 176.12, the Plantation Index gained 9.65 points to 7,309.23 while the Energy Index was 3.94 points lower at 842.59. — Bernama