KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today underpinned by a spate of positive news including a rally on Wall Street overnight.

At 9.07am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.93 points to 1,447.70 from yesterday's closing of 1,439.77.

The benchmark index opened 6.95 points firmer at 1,446.72.

The broader market was also positive with gainers leading decliners 231 to 92, while 222 counters were unchanged, 1,806 untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover stood at 250.38 million units worth RM83.67 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the three major indices on Wall Street surged as traders were betting that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may be done with rate hikes for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.70 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.78 per cent as the US 10-year yield eased to almost a month low at 4.66 per cent.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 129 points yesterday as sentiment turned dovish after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority maintained its base rate in line with the Fed rate pause, signaling a possible end to the rate hike cycle.

On the home front, the FBM KLCI ended higher taking cue from improved regional performance.

Thong said, as expected, Bank Negara Malaysia kept its Overnight Policy Rate unchanged at 3.00 per cent, which should be good news for all.

“Underpinned by a spate of positive news, we believe the local bourse is expected to see the return of buyers, thus expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,440-1,450 range today.

“Again, we advocate investors to stay with banking stocks we anticipate the financials to chart decent earnings growth for 2023,” Thong told Bernama.

On Bursa Malaysia, heavyweights Press Metal rose six sen to RM4.90, MISC gained 11 sen to RM7.32, CelcomDigi perked up four sen to RM4.29, IHH Healthcare added five sen to RM6.03, and Petronas Gas edged up 20 sen to RM17.30.

Of the actives, MLabs, Kinergy Advancement and KNM were all flat at one sen, 33 sen and 9.5 sen respectively, SMTrack added half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, Tanco fell half-a-sen to 57 sen, and JCY International increased 1.5 sen to 22 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 48.52 points firmer at 10,680.57, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 48.53 points to 10,353.63 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 53.79 points to 10,878.53.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 30.35 points to 14,083.51 and the FBM ACE Index was up 10.56 points to 5,034.54.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.55 of-a-point to 171.20, while the Plantation Index added 22.62 points to 6,930.52, the Energy Index rose 0.79 of-a-point to 871.60, and the Financial Services Index was 68.27 points better at 16,303.78. ― Bernama