KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on renewed buying interest after undergoing selling pressure yesterday amid concerns over new Covid-19 variant Omicron, said an analyst.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded 2.56 points to 1,513.13 from 1,510.57 yesterday.
The benchmark index opened 2.01 points firmer at 1,512.58.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 214 to 155, while 254 counters were unchanged, 1,682 untraded, and 63 others suspended. Turnover stood at 383.69 million units worth RM189.85 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the positive overnight Wall Street performance might have provided some support for local equities.
“We think selling pressure is overdone for the near term, contributing to oversold signals and hammer candlesticks on most of the stocks.
“Also, some economists claimed that the economic impact stemming from the Omicron variant will be less severe than last year,” it said in its Morning Pulse note today.
On the commodity markets, the brokerage firm said a mild rebound was noticed in both crude palm oil and crude oil prices.
It reckoned that technology counters would continue to be in a sweet spot for investors considering high earnings visibility going forward, coupled with the overnight rebound on Wall Street.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 26.78 points to 11,081.65, the FBMT 100 Index rose 26.26 points to 10,766.5, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 35.81 points to 12,096.73.
The FBM 70 increased 67.09 points to 14,449.41, while the FBM ACE fell 1.47 points to 6,514.44.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.29 of-a-point to 192.34 and the Plantation Index perked 20.61 points to 6,376.93, but the Financial Services Index reduced 4.94 points to 15,038.47.
Cautious trading
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today in cautious trading as traders digested news on the Omicron variant.
The greenback ended flat against the ringgit at yesterday’s close amid uncertainties surrounding the market and growing concerns over the global economic outlook, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local note rose to 4.2360/2385 against the greenback from 4.2370/2395 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the prevailing market condition indicated that the situation was extremely fluid.
“There appears to be some relief over Omicron as its symptoms are said to be milder.
“This should provide some support to the ringgit, but it remains highly uncertain as investigations by scientists are still ongoing,” he said.
The local note was also traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies at the opening, except the Singapore dollar.
It rose versus the British pound to 5.6419/6453 from 5.6517/6551 at yesterday’s close and improved vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7816/7844 from 4.7819/7847 previously.
The ringgit increased against the Japanese yen to 3.7213/7239 from 3.7376/7402 yesterday, but depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0972/0997 from 3.0968/0990. – Bernama, November 30, 2021
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