Bursa extends gains to open higher

KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s gains to open higher today despite a muted performance of its Asian peers at opening, taking its cue from an overnight mixed performance on Wall Street.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen 5.97 points to 1,617. 78 from yesterday’s close at 1,611.81.

The key index opened 4.18 points higher at 1,615.99.

However, on the broader market, losers led gainers 263 to 245, while 324 counters were unchanged, 1,346 untraded and eight others suspended.

Total volume stood at 313.4 million units worth RM189.6 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the KLCI extended its winning streak and outperformed its regional peers yesterday as recovery play gained strength, offsetting losses in glove heavyweights.

It said the shift in investors’ interest to recovery-play stocks, coupled with the selldown on Wall Street, may continue to weigh on the technology sector today.

Commodity-wise, the crude palm oil price (CPO) had surged near its 10-year high at around RM3,963 per tonne, while investors may look forward to Malaysia’s unemployment rate today for market catalysts, it noted.

“At this moment, we believe the key index should hold above the 1,600 level.

“For the sectors in focus, we believe traders may put plantation stocks on their radar on the back of firmer CPO prices, while recovery-themed sectors such as consumer, gaming, aviation and transportation may continue to gain traction amid a decline in Covid-19 cases,” it said.

It added that construction and property stocks could also see some trading interest as they are the laggards compared to the broader market.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) had added four sen each to RM8.54 and RM10.44 respectively, while Public Bank Bhd gained three sen to RM4.43.

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) shed two sen to RM8.33 and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped seven sen to RM5.22.

Of the actives, Sealink International Bhd bagged two sen to 30.5 sen, TA Win Holdings Bhd improved one sen to 38.5 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) edged up half a sen to 72.5 sen, while AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) and CME Group Bhd were flat at 9.5 sen and 6.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 22.02 points to 11,745.79, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 23.95 points to 11,454.50 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 1.05 points better at 12,882.47.

Meanwhile, the FBM ACE slipped 67.39 points to 10,158.64 and the FBM 70 declined 40.18 points to 15,152.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 73.77 points to 15,763.77 and the Plantation Index gained 8.08 points to 7,123.87, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.35 of a point to 187.05.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets