KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened higher today on continued bargain-hunting momentum, albeit in a more muted manner.
At 9.13am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.07 points to 1,604.47 after breaching the 1,600-level at 1,602.40 points yesterday.
The index was 5.46 points better at 1,607.86 at 9am.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 214 to 256, while 361 counters were unchanged, 1,401 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 736.31 million shares worth RM318.14 million.
Rakuten Trade said the key index is expected to trend higher today although it would be within a narrow range of between 1,595 and 1,605.
“Globally, sentiments on Wall Street remain jittery as all three major indices slumped following strong earlier sessions.
“Despite the lower 10-year Treasury yields, the sell-off on tech stocks were unrelenting as Nasdaq lost 2.0%, while the DJI Average declined three points. As such, we reckon regional markets to continue with their consolidation amid the heightened volatility today,” it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and PBBank advanced 1 sen each to RM8.25 and RM4.19, respectively, PChem added 5 sen to RM8.12, Tenaga erased 2 sen to RM10.80, IHH declined 1 sen to RM5.33, and CIMB was 3 sen easier at RM4.47.
As for active counters, BJCorp, the most active this morning, added 3.5 sen to 32.5 sen, DNex and its warrant rose 1.5 sen each at 99.5 sen and 35.5 sen, respectively, while YongTai and PDZ were flat at 27 sen and 5.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index earned 14.10 points to 11,767.89, the FBMT 100 added 10.40 points to 11,439.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah edged up 10.20 points to 13,075.54.
The FBM ACE was 14.65 points better at 10,453.52 but the FBM 70 lost 2.85 points to 15,444.51.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 42.10 points to 15,308.87, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.82 of-a-point to 191.94, and the Plantation Index eked up 18.51 points to 7,181.56.
Meanwhile, the ringgit slipped further versus the US dollar at opening today, as demand for the safe-haven greenback spiked due to persistent concerns over the Covid-19 resurgence and global lockdowns.
At 9am, the local note fell to 4.1330/1380 against the greenback from 4.1290/1320 at yesterday’s close. – Bernama, March 25, 2021
