KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today, driven by Wall Street's positive performance ahead of the Christmas break and subdued post-holiday trading activity.
The exchange and its subsidiaries were closed yesterday in conjunction with Christmas Day. At 9:05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 0.70 points, reaching 1,603.69, compared to Tuesday's close of 1,602.99.
The benchmark index opened marginally higher, up by 0.59 points at 1,603.58.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 140 to 102, while 283 counters remained unchanged.
Turnover was at 190.31 million units valued at RM54.75 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shee Phin said the FBM KLCI closed higher above the 1,600 level on Tuesday, despite daily trading volume shrinking to around 2.0 billion shares.
He noted that while there were signs of bargain hunting, the local bourse is in urgent need of a significant injection of liquidity.
"Hopefully, the buying momentum will gather pace and carry the index higher into 2025. "Hence, we expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,600-1,610 today," he told Business Times.
Regionally, Thong said the Wall Street managed to conjure up a mini Santa Rally as all three major indices ended positively ahead of the Christmas break.
Nonetheless, he said overall sentiment remains cautiously bullish as the US 10-year yield remains elevated at 4.591 per cent.
"Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HSI) broke the 20,000-mark amid a muted trading session as mainland investors went on a shopping spree on expectations that China will introduce more stimulus to spur economic growth," he added.