KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, underpinned by some bargain hunting activities.
At the open FBM KLCI was up 0.58 points to 1,591.53, staying below the 50-day simple moving average as investors remain cautious ahead of the US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) report.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers 228 to 204, with 376 counters unchanged, 1,633 untraded and 73 suspended. Turnover stood at 362.25 million units worth RM186.32 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street barely stayed above water amid a muted trading session as sentiment was cautious ahead of May's PCE data tomorrow.
"However, the index closed off highs as profit taking activities emerged amid the heightened geopolitical tension," he told the Business Times.
Back home, Thong said the FBM KLCI finally closed on a positive note underpinned by some bargain hunting activities.
Nonetheless, he said the firm believes trading would be rather subdued as many will be waiting for the inflationary data on Friday.
"For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,590-1,600 range as recent selling may have run its course," he added.
Among the actives, Ingenieur Gudanv Bhd was flat at 6.5 sen, MY E.G. Services Bhd dropped two sen to RM1 and YNP Property Bhd slid 5.5 sen to 55 sen.