KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on bargain hunting amid the mixed Asian markets’ performances after a softer overnight Wall Street close due to unexciting US financial sector results, dealers said.
At 9.06 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.79 points to 1,755.79 from Thursday's close of 1,754.00.
The index opened two points higher at 1,756.00.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers by 142 to 60, with 229 counters unchanged, 1,429 untraded and 35 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 247.27 million shares worth RM42.44 million.
In a note, Public Investment Bank said, the FBM KLCI was set to open flat today after global equities were mixed overnight while the euro dipped and a volatile ride for the pound saw it sinking after the European Union’s Chief Negotiator for Britain Exit (Brexit) , Michel Barnier, said that talks on Brexit terms with the UK were at “deadlock”.
A four-session slide in the US dollar prompted by dovish comments from Federal Reserve policymakers stalled while US bank earnings failed to ignite Wall Street stocks, said the bank
Of the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.54, TNB gained two sen to RM14.14, Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM7.37, Public Bank fell four sen to RM20.52 and Sime Darby eased five sen to RM8.99.
Among active counters, NetX Holdings and its warrant edged up half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 3.5 sen respectively, Prinsiptek Corp added two sen to 17.5 sen , Sumatek Resources eased half-a-sen to five sen while Borneo Oil was flat at 9.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index added 8.54 points to 12,575.05, FBMT 100 Index gained 8.44 points to 12,220.15, FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 10.87 points to 12,861.12, the FBM Ace rose 24.11 points to 6,959.48 while FBM 70 fell 4.71 points to 15,205.24.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index surged by 36.80 points to 7,981.17, Industrial Index rose 1.71 points to 3,214.35 and the Finance Index increased by 8.88 points better at 16,518.