KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s gains to open higher today, supported by continued buying interest, in line with positive sentiments on the regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.53am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.30 points or 0.35% to 1,540.86 from yesterday’s close of 1,531.30.
The benchmark index opened 4.16 points higher at 1,539.72.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 299 to 290, while 287 counters were unchanged, 1,437 untraded and 31 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 659.27 million units worth RM301.55 million.
In a research note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said despite the rebound on Wall Street overnight, the market sentiment is expected to remain cautious today on the back of concerns over the global supply chain crisis which may slow down the pace of economic recovery.
“Meanwhile, under the current inflationary environment, investors may favour sectors that are benefiting from the commodity boom. We remain optimistic about the energy sector as crude oil prices remain on the high side at around US$114 (RM501) per barrel.
“Investors may also look at the real estate investment trust sector as business recovery bodes well for the occupancy rate, as well as technology stocks amidst the rebound on Nasdaq,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 7.0 sen to RM9.03, Public Bank advanced 4.0 sen to RM4.59, IHH Healthcare went up 5.0 sen to RM6.48 and TNB increased 1.0 sen to RM9.20, while Petronas Chemicals shed 7.0 sen to RM9.86.
Of the actives, Serba Dinamik rose 1.5 sen to 11.5 sen and Cypark Resources went up 3.0 sen to 41 sen, while KNM Group eased 0.5 sen to 15 sen and MNC Wireless was flat at 1.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE gained 57.17 points to 5,248.09, FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 15.10 points to 11,348.02, FBM Emas Index improved 33.90 points to 10,983.35, FBMT100 Index bagged 37.29 points to 10,670.44 and FBM70 strengthened 48.10 points to 13,067.58.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.51 of-a-point lower at 196.95, the Financial Services Index jumped 101.63 points to 16,597.36, and the Plantation Index advanced 15.97 points to 8,052.27.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today in the absence of hawkish surprises from the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.
At 9.01am, the local note stood at 4.3920/3960 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.3930/3960.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said during the FOMC meeting on May 3-4, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials agreed that they need to raise interest rates by 50 basis points in the next two meetings in June and July as an aggressive move to curb inflation.
He said this should contain any local weakness from the Fed side, especially with global equities rebounding.
“Thus, the regional focus remains on China and its plans in the reopening of its economy, as well as further policy easing which could have a beneficial impact on the regional foreign exchange, including the ringgit,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note had depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1977/2008 from yesterday’s close of 3.1947/1971, slid versus the British pound to 5.5366/5416 from 5.4908/4946 yesterday and decreased versus the euro to 4.7008/7050 from 4.6895/6927 previously.
However, the ringgit rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.4452/4487 from 3.4563/4590 yesterday. – Bernama, May 26, 2022
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