Bursa opens higher, tracking Wall Street gains
KUALA LUMPUR : Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday, taking its cue from Wall Street's overnight rally despite rising trade tensions between China and the US.
An analyst said investors shrugged off the escalating dispute, even as both nations accused each other of breaching a temporary 90-day trade truce.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.01 points to 1,511.36 from last Friday's close of 1,508.35. The benchmark index had opened 4.37 points higher at 1,512.72.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 192 to 131. Another 297 counters were unchanged, 1,726 untraded and 15 suspended.
Turnover stood at 167.69 million shares worth RM87.79 million.
Bursa Malaysia was closed on Monday in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell as US-China trade tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.
Sentiment was further dampened by China's disappointing new home sales, which declined 8.7% in April – though better than the 11.4% drop in March.
Back home, the FBM KLCI fell further last Friday to below the 1,510 level as foreign fund selling persisted.
'We noticed there were efforts to support the index, but they were unsuccessful.
'Notwithstanding this, we would advocate that investors accumulate blue chips, namely banks and telecommunications, if and when the index dips below the 1,500 mark.
'For today, we expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,500–1,510 range,' he added.
Among heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan gained 42 sen to RM20.12, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) increased 40 sen to RM19.88, PPB Group rose 22 sen to RM11.50, SD Guthrie added 6.0 sen to RM4.54, and Sime Darby edged up 2.0 sen to RM1.72.
Among the most active counters, Bintai slipped half-a-sen to 7.0 sen, Alam Maritim was flat at 3.0 sen, Harvest Miracle Capital gained half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, ICT Zone Asia dipped half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, and Capital A rose 2.5 sen to 87.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 14.27 points to 11,314.07, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 15.88 points to 11,076.88, while the FBM ACE Index declined 10.85 points to 4,540.18.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index added 0.16 of-a-point to 11,256.42, while the FBM 70 Index slipped 1.02 points to 16,200.49.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 62.96 points to 17,903.50. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.33 of-a-point to 152.32, the Energy Index eased 0.64 of-a-point to 707.40, and the Plantation Index rose 48.81 points to 7,256.66.
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