KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia recovered from its losses yesterday, opening higher today in response to the positive performance of Wall Street overnight.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.47 points to 1,668.77 from Monday's close of 1,665.30.
The benchmark index opened 1.95 points firmer at 1,667.25.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 203 to 130, with 290 counters unchanged.
Turnover totalled 154.59 million units valued at RM114.65 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI opened on a high but lost steam along the way to close marginally lower yesterday due to the lack of buying catalysts.
He noted that the local bourse may also be undergoing an intermittent consolidation.
"Hence, we expect the index to hover within the 1,660-1,670 range today," he told Business Times.
Meanwhile, Thong said Wall Street closed higher with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P500 charting record highs amid a choppy session.
Nonetheless, he said sentiment may have turned cautious as traders would now look at Thursday's weekly jobless claims.
"In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HSI) surrendered early gains to end on a flat note as profit-taking activities set in following a two-week uptrend.
"This is despite the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) injecting US$33.3 billion into the banking system via open market operations, but traders remained unimpressed as this is not a major policy easing," he added.