Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened firmer today, ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes release and key inflation data due this week, an analyst said.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.57 points to 1,640.19, compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,635.62.
The benchmark index had opened 2.04 points higher at 1,637.66.
Market breadth was positive, with 209 gainers outpacing 128 decliners, while 247 counters remained unchanged, 1,840 were untraded, and 20 were suspended.
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In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said traders will be closely watching the release of the meeting minutes, as well as the consumer price index and producer price index, to assess the direction of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
In the commodities market, Brent crude experienced a sell-off, dropping below US$78, while gold retraced toward the US$2,600 level, it said.
The brokerage firm believed the recent rebound in crude oil and the continued uptrend in crude palm oil would support sectors such as oil and gas and plantation.
Ahead of Budget 2025, traders may also focus on sectors like e-invoicing, construction, property, building materials, utilities and consumer-related stocks, it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.50, CIMB gained four sen to RM8.00, Tenaga Nasional firmed 14 sen to RM14.32, Public Bank remained unchanged at RM4.57, and IHH Healthcare eased four sen to RM7.21.
As for the active counters, Pertama Digital slid 15.5 sen to 33 sen, Velocity Capital shed half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, while Crest Group improved by 2.5 sen to 37.5 sen, 99 Speed Mart garnered six sen to RM2.52, and KHPT remained unchanged at 21.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 37.72 points to 12,306.59, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 47.46 points to 12,229.38, the FBMT 100 Index expanded by 39.99 points to 12,002.76, the FBM 70 Index inched up 82.77 points to 17,537.67, while the FBM ACE Index eased 10.22 points to 5,142.44.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 49.36 points to 19,251.70, the Plantation Index ticked up 15.37 points to 7,228.99, and the Industrial Products and Services Index grew by 0.09 of-a-point to 177.71, while the Energy Index weakened by 8.96 points to 886.82.
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