KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI broke the 1,600 points mark on Friday, after Wall Street's rally as softer US jobless claims cooled recession fears.
At 9.31 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.21 points or 0.52 per cent to 1,598.59 from Thursday's close of 1,590.38.
The index opened 10.78 points stronger at 1,601.16.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 551 to 59, while 168 counters unchanged, 1,664 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover stood at 264.19 million units worth RM137.57 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the sentiment on Bursa Malaysia is expected to remain cautious although Wall Street rebounded sharply buoyed by the lower than expected weekly jobless claims, allaying fears of the creeping US unemployment rate and recessionary fears.
"Despite the upturn on Wall Street, we expect sentiment on the local bourse to remain cautious ahead of the weekend, hence anticipate the index to hover within the 1,590 to 1,600 range today," he said.
Though Bursa Malaysia's daily volume traded on Thursday has weakened to around the 4 billion shares level, Thong saw its as positive, noting that selling may be easing.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities expected buying interest in the US stock market sustained and spill over to local stocks.
"Given the positive rebound on Wall Street, we believe buying support should emerge on the local front within the construction, property, utilities, and technology sectors, which are beneficiaries of the data center catalyst and the AI theme.
"Meanwhile, we favour the consumer and shipping sectors due to the stronger ringgit environment, and the financial sector may be worth accumulating for its decent dividend yield," it said.