KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower but rebounded thereafter on Tuesday, tracking the mixed performance of regional markets and overnight Wall Street.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.78 points, or 0.11%, to 1,624.20 from Monday’s close of 1,622.42.
The benchmark index had opened 1.20 points weaker at 1,621.22.
Market breadth, however, was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 228 to 156, while 310 counters were unchanged, 1,953 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover stood at 228.39 million shares worth RM101.04 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street closed mixed overnight as artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks continued to prosper.
He added that Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rebounded following recent trade negotiations that appeared to ease tensions between the two superpowers and improve overall investor sentiment.
“Additionally, we expect local institutions to be the main buyers and hope that foreign funds will stay a tad longer. Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend between the 1,620 and 1,630 range today,” he noted.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group advanced four sen each to RM9.99 and RM7.46, respectively. Public Bank added two sen to RM4.26, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare were unchanged at RM13.34 and RM8.35, respectively.
On the most active list, Borneo Oil and MMAG were flat at half-a-sen and 18.5 sen, respectively. NexG eased half-a-sen to 34.5 sen, while Perak Transit gained one sen to 32 sen and Dagang Nexchange inched up half-a-sen to 33.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Fraser & Neave surged 40 sen to RM28.32, Ajinomoto climbed 36 sen to RM13.88, Petronas Dagangan rose 16 sen to RM22.68, KLCC Properties & REITS added nine sen to RM8.79, and United Plantations gained eight sen to RM24.98.
Top losers included Nestle, which shed 90 sen to RM112.30, Batu Kawan, which slid 30 sen to RM19, Malaysian Pacific Industries, which fell 20 sen to RM30.80, Hong Leong Industries, which trimmed 16 sen to RM13.90, and Lim Seong Hai Capital, which eased nine sen to RM2.21.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index gained 6.73 points to 11,835.29, and the FBM Emas Index strengthened 5.44 points to 12,088.44.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 10.23 points to 12,124.87, the FBM ACE Index declined 29.44 points to 5,142.33, and the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 17.49 points to 17,008.15.
By sector, the Financial Services Index grew 69.60 points to 18,379.26, the Plantation Index dipped 20.17 points to 8,032.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.03 of-a-point to 172.36, and the Energy Index eased 1.13 points to 772.26.
