Bursa opens higher, tracks Wall Street gains
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking Wall Street's strong performance last Friday, supported by stronger-than-expected US jobs data that alleviated concerns over the economic outlook.
At 9.25am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.33 or 0.15 per cent higher at 1,519.12 from Friday's close of 1,516.79. The benchmark index opened 1.27 points better at 1,518.06.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 261 to 160, while 300 counters were unchanged, 1,618 untraded and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 328.6 million units valued at RM173.79 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI failed to sustain its impressive performance on Thursday as the index stuttered to end just above the 1,515 level.
The firm noted that the trading activities remained muted, as seen from the pathetic daily volume, which dwindled to below the two billion shares mark.
"This could be attributed to the widespread downgrades of the benchmark index target for 2025 by the research fraternity recently.
"As such, we expect the index to hover within the 1,510 to 1,520 range today," the firm added.
On US stocks, Rakuten said the Wall Street closed broadly firmer on the back of higher-than-expected nonfarm payrolls, hence easing concerns of an imminent economic slowdown in the US.
On the flipside, the firm noted that Tesla shares continue to slide amid the sparring match between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield edged higher to 4.506 per cent.
As for Hong Kong, Rakuten said the Hang Seng Index declined to below the 23,800 level amid some profit takings as the Xi-Trump phone call failed to address any overriding concerns, as more fresh catalysts are required to prop up the market.
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