KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today tracking US markets which were bouyed by renewed optimism over US rate cuts happening later this year.
Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday, with strong buying in technology stocks, led by Nvidia and Apple.
At 9:15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.36 per cent, gaining 5.85 points to reach 1,614.39 from yesterday's close of 1,608.53.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 334 to 156, with 378 counters unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said FBM KLCI closed lower with heavy profit-taking in banking stocks yesterday.
"We believe the outlook for local equities remains positive, supported by strong corporate earnings. Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,600 to 1,615 today," he said.
As Wall Street close higher, Thong said, the Dow finished 0.25 per cent higher, ending above the 38,800 mark, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped almost 2 per cent, closing in on the strong resistance level of 17,188.
In Asia, he highlighted that key indices finished mostly lower due to profit-taking in some bourses.
Over in Hong Kong, the HSI ended flat following mixed economic data from China.