Bursa Malaysia opens higher, tracks positive Wall Street performance
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on renewed buying interest, tracking positive overnight performance on Wall Street, said an analyst.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.28 of a point to 1,519.26 from Thursday's close of 1,518.98. The benchmark index opened 2.24 points higher at 1,521.22.
In the broader market, decliners beat gainers 223 to 112, while 243 counters were unchanged, 1,816 untraded and 86 suspended.
Turnover stood at 181.05 million units worth RM112.83 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said market sentiment remains uncertain following US President Donald Trump's success in reinstating tariffs through a US appeals court ruling, which may eventually be taken to the Supreme Court to halt the original federal court decision.
"Amid the ongoing tariff uncertainty, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.426 per cent," he told Bernama.
Thong noted that foreign outflows have exceeded RM330 million this week alone and continue to rise.
"Though fundamentals remain intact, we suspect the recent sell-off may again be due to a flight of funds back to the Hong Kong market
"For today, we expect bargain hunting activities to emerge if and when the index eases closer to the 1,500 mark, thus anticipate it to trend between the 1,510-1,525 range," he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB were flat at RM9.87 and RM6.88 respectively, while Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.33. Tenaga shed four sen to RM14.04, and IHH Healthcare dropped eight sen to RM6.83.
In active trade, Velesto, SM Track and TA Win were flat at 18.5 sen, one sen and two sen, respectively. Nationgate went up nine sen to RM1.53, while Dagang Nexchange inched down half-a-sen to 29 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 17.49 points to 11,364.84, the FBMT 100 Index fell 17.26 points to 11,124.76, and the FBM ACE Index decreased 10.02 points to 4,582.14.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 33.19 points to 11,332.64, while the FBM 70 Index sank 101.64 points to 16,230.66.
By sector, the Financial Services Index added 26.67 points to 17,921.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.04 of a point to 153.06, the Energy Index eased 0.53 of a point to 707.65, while the Plantation Index shaved 1.41 points to 7,292.54.
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