KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened lower but turned higher this morning, lifted by selected heavyweights led by IHH Healthcare and Press Metal.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 1.16 points to 1,521.18 from 1,520.02 at Friday’s close, after opening 0.3 of-a-point lower at 1519.72.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 192 to 135, while 161 counters were unchanged, 1,760 untraded and 52 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 109.91 million units worth RM54.79 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional markets would remain volatile ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
“As for the local bourse, trading will only be for the morning session today. Hence, we believe participation would be rather muted.
“Therefore, we expect FBM KLCI to hover within the 1,515-1,525 range today.
“Meanwhile, crude palm oil is set to end January on a record high as it closed at RM5,610/tonne last week,” he said.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.46% to 3,261.34, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.39% to 26,822.41, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
On a separate development, the ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today on renewed buying interest.
At 9.02am, the local note rose slightly to 4.1855/1905 versus the greenback from 4.1880/1915 at Friday’s close. – Bernama, January 31, 2022
