KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher today amidst better Wall Street performance overnight.  

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.54 of-a-point to 1,539.88, from Thursday’s close of 1,539.34.   

It opened 3.06 points higher at 1,542.40.  

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 234 to 133, while 287 counters were unchanged, 1,658 untraded and 15 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 267.36 million units worth RM128.30 million.

In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said there would be more immediate upsides for Malaysian equities on the back of the extended bargain hunting activities, with the key index now finding stability at current levels.

It said further clarity on the United States’ fiscal policy direction and the calmer Chinese markets would help to provide some measure of stability after the volatile spell over the past couple of weeks.

Elsewhere, the broader market will be largely supported by rotational play, with traders capitalising on the improvement in trading activities alongside the positive market undertone, added Malacca Securities.

“We reckon that the recovery theme sectors will remain as the focal point with the nationwide adult population vaccination rate now above the 80 per cent level.

“The construction sector is poised for some limelight as construction activities gather pace, while the technology sector may trade higher, tracking the gains on Nasdaq overnight,” the brokerage said. 

Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare advanced six sen to RM6.70, TNB gained three sen to RM10.02, Press Metal went up three sen to RM5.73, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM4.06 and RM8.08, respectively, while Maybank fell two sen to RM8.13 and CIMB shed one sen to RM4.86.

Of the actives, Tanco edged up half-a-sen to 25 sen, AirAsia increased three sen to RM1.03, Avillion added one sen to 15 sen, Sapura Energy was flat at 11.5 sen and Dagang Nexchange eased 1.5 sen to 81.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index widened 12.55 points to 11,317.38, the FBMT 100 Index rose 7.18 points to 11,011.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 18.05 points to 12,331.58, the FBM 70 was 22.71 points higher at 14,994.81, and the FBM ACE expanded by 58.37 points to 7,179.91.   

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.51 of-a-point to 200.36, the Plantation Index slipped 11.35 points to 6,335.58 and the Financial Services Index eased 6.32 points to 15,265.04. — Bernama