KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Monday supported by improving market sentiment due to the recent move by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.
Bursa Malaysia FBM KLCI opened 1.38 points higher on Monday to 1,619.24.
However, at 9.05 am, the FBM KLCI eased by 0.43 of-a-point to 1,617.43 from Friday's close of 1,617.86.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 259 to 201, with 368 counters unchanged, 1,570 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover totalled 297.44 million units worth RM116.27 million.
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng the FBM KLCI maintained its upward momentum as bargain hunters returned.
Though the benchmark index failed to stay above the 1,620 level, Thong said the firm deem last week's performance as decent.
"Post-results for the second quarter (Q2) 202 period, we noticed that many research houses had upgraded their respective 2024 target for the index thus indicating that the market still has the legs to trend higher.
"For today, we believe the index to hover between the 1,615-1,625 range.
"Recent move by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates is also a positive indicator that global central banks are beginning to detach themselves from the Federal Reserve," he told Business Times.
Among the heavyweight counters, Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose four sen to RM13.80, while Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.12 and YTL Corp Bhd went up one sen to RM3.66.
Of actives, Alam Maritim Resources Bhd was up one sen to 3.5 sne, Widad Group Bhd gained 0.5 sen to 8.5 sen and YNH Property Bhd added five sen to RM69 sen.