Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid optimism over a possible agreement between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an analyst said.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.02 of a point to 1,732.68 from Tuesday’s close of 1,732.66.
The benchmark index opened 3.70 points higher at 1,736.36.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 283 to 140. A total of 300 counters were unchanged, 2,009 were untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 247.46 million shares worth RM165.15 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed broadly higher overnight, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ending at record highs, supported by strong corporate earnings.
Back home, he said the FBM KLCI maintained its upward momentum, closing above the 1,730 level despite a subdued start.
“Buying interest has been broad-based, and we believe foreign funds may be returning to the local bourse.
“For today, we expect the index to trade within the 1,730-1,740 range,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group gained four sen each to RM10.82 and RM8.07, respectively. Public Bank and IHH Healthcare slipped three sen each to RM5.25 and RM8.40, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM14.44. Petronas Chemicals eased four sen to RM4.61.
Active stocks saw NationGate Holdings and Inari Amertron rise nine sen each to RM1.38 and RM2.30, respectively. K-One Technology added 1.5 sen to 16 sen, while Zetrix AI and Land & General were unchanged at 73.5 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, Nestle rose RM1.40 to RM103.20, Malaysian Pacific Industries gained 60 sen to RM47.32, MNRB Holdings advanced 25 sen to RM2.93, UMS Integration climbed 23 sen to RM7.90, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 20 sen to RM21.52.
United Plantations led the losers, falling 70 sen to RM33.34, followed by Westports Holdings, down eight sen to RM7.06. AmBank and Hibiscus Petroleum declined five sen each to RM7.07 and RM1.90, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index rose 3.10 points to 12,812.42, the FBM Top 100 Index edged up 0.01 of a point to 12,640.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 3.12 points to 12,625.63, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 16.52 points to 5,033.96. The FBM Mid 70 Index, however, slipped 0.44 of a point to 18,211.05.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 11.19 points to 20,530.38 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.42 of a point to 189.10. The Plantation Index fell 21.50 points to 9,355.81, while the Energy Index declined 3.57 points to 761.26.
