KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower but turned higher thereafter as Wall Street staged a relief rally while crude oil declined amid a highly volatile market, notwithstanding the imminent interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, said an analyst.

At 9.13am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.38 points to 1,558.79 from 1,557.41 at Tuesday’s close. The index opened 3.15 points lower at 1,554.26.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 305 to 104, while 183 counters were unchanged, 1,719 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 190.26 million units worth RM123.38 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 600 points while the Nasdaq surged 367 points, as the US 10-year yield stayed above the 2.0 per cent level at 2.15 per cent.

“Back home, despite sentiments to remain cautious, we expect some bargain-hunting activities to emerge, thus anticipate the benchmark index to trend around the 1,550-1,570 range today,” he said.

Meanwhile, crude palm oil (CPO) rebounded over RM7,000 per tonne while Brent crude eased to around US$100 per barrel.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank soared nine sen to RM8.76, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.50, Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM9.24, and CIMB gained seven sen to RM5.16.

IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.40 while Tenaga eased two sen to RM9.00.

Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange recovered 3.5 sen to 95.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum improved four sen to RM1.06 and Widad added half-a-sen to 34.5 sen.

On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 33.16 points better at 11,010.69, FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 55.89 points to 11,596.71, FBM 70 ticked up 117.61 points to 12,894.65, FBMT 100 Index perked 28.35 points to 10,734.55, and FBM ACE climbed 66.44 points to 5,205.15.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.19 points to 197.38, the Plantation Index increased 36.70 points to 7,941.28, while the Financial Services Index fell 29.72 points to 16,282.83. — Bernama