KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note today, bucking the uptrend momentum on Wall Street.
Activity, however, remains tepid domestically.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 0.47 of-a-point to 1,494.50 from 1,494.03 at yesterday’s close.
The market bellwether opened 0.97 of-a-point lower at 1,493.06.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners 205 to 131, while 242 counters were unchanged, 1,719 untraded and 51 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 300.26 million units valued at RM104.05 million.
Sentiment may remain cautiously optimistic while the market monitors the severity of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, as well as the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, according to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd.
Commodity-wise, oil price continues to hover above the US$75 (RM316.27) per barrel mark, while the crude palm oil market saw a mild decline.
In the US, the stock markets recovered all their intraday losses to close mildly higher as the Dow rose 0.1% amid optimism over the vaccine booster that may neutralise the Omicron variant.
Malacca Securities noted that the domestic market may continue to see bargain-hunting and potential window-dressing activities towards year-end.
Heavyweights IHH rose four sen to RM6.59. Axiata, Dialog and Genting gained three sen each to RM3.73, RM2.48 and RM4.50 respectively.
RHB added five sen to RM5.43. Top Glove, Petronas Chemicals and Sime Darby Plantation increased two sen each to RM2.46, RM8.45 and RM3.78 respectively.
However, CIMB dropped five sen to RM5.23. Petronas Gas was 14 sen weaker at RM16.38.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy and MMAG were unchanged at 5.5 sen and 9.5 sen respectively.
G3 Global eased three sen to 12 sen and ATA IMS slipped half-a-sen to 49 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index bagged 7.88 points to 10,908.05, the FBMT 100 Index gained 8.71 points to 10,610.56, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 22.36 points higher at 11,786.44.
The FBM 70 went up 32.92 points to 14,147.49 and the FBM ACE edged up 1.13 points to 6,290.43.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.41 of-a-point to 193.83, the Financial Services Index slid 25.48 points to 15,140.91, and the Plantation Index improved 4.02 points to 6,434.11. – Bernama, December 9, 2021
