Bursa opens higher in early session
KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): Bursa Malaysia opened higher today in line with a steady closing on Wall Street last Friday.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had inched up 0.93 of a point to 1,602.35 from last Friday’s close at 1,601.42.
The index opened 2.17 points better at 1,603.26.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 319 to 164, while 299 counters were unchanged, 1,450 untraded and 51 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 381.73 billion shares worth RM163.57 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local market sentiment may extend last Friday’s positive move on Wall Street, but continued political developments may cap the upside potential of the local bourse.
Meanwhile, oil prices may see an improvement amid concerns over the Suez Canal blockage, which may potentially lead to some supply disruptions.
“Moreover, market players may focus on shipping rates in the near term. We reckon the oil and gas (O&G) counters may attract some buying interest, while the shipping industry could be on the lookout as the market could be speculating higher shipping rates over the near term,” Malacca Securities said in a research note.
Apart from that, the brokerage firm said traders might trade into vaccine-related counters following the smooth Covid-19 vaccine roll-out plan on the local front.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Public Bank Bhd rose two sen each to RM8.27 and RM4.21 respectively, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) advanced six sen to RM7.96, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) appreciated eight sen to RM10.88, Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) was flat at RM18.78, IHH Healthcare Bhd declined six sen to RM5.35, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell one sen to RM4.43 and Top Glove Corp Bhd trimmed four sen to RM5.11.
As for the active counters, Straits Inter Logistics Bhd advanced three sen to 26.5 sen, Widad Group Bhd was 2.5 sen higher at 16.5 sen, Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) increased three sen to 61.5 sen, Minda Global Bhd improved 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen, Teladan Setia Group Bhd bagged one sen to 64 sen and MMAG Holdings Bhd decreased 1.5 sen to 34 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 24.01 points to 11,802.3, the FBM 70 increased 54.75 points to 15,605.21, the FBMT 100 gained 15.42 points to 11,459.4, the FBM ACE jumped 31.32 points to 10,549.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah rose 18.32 points to 13,096.48.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eked 54.62 points to 15,354.91, the Plantation Index went up 5.79 points to 7,106.24 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.63 of a point to 192.04.
Source: TheEdgeMarkets