BURSA MALAYSIA REBOUNDS IN EARLY TRADE

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday's losses to trend higher in early trade on Friday supported by renewed buying interest, tracking strong performance on Wall Street overnight, a dealer said.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.31 points to 1,603.53 from yesterday’s close of 1,601.22.

The benchmark index opened 2.24 points better at 1,603.46.

In the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 213 to 132, while 329 counters remained unchanged, with 1,666 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 241.88 million units worth RM96.43 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street gained momentum after the release of weekly jobless claims, which climbed to the highest level since August last year.

On the home front, he said the FBM KLCI saw a technical correction yesterday after sellers maintained dominance following the recent rally. 

"Nonetheless, we deemed this as a healthy correction and expect the index to reverse its direction anytime soon. 

"Therefore, we believe the benchmark index to trend between the 1,600-1,610 range today with interests returning to the construction and telco segments," he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank, CIMB and Petronas Chemicals were all flat at RM9.84, RM6.75 and RM7, respectively, Public Bank rose two sen to RM4.19, while Tenaga Nasional lost four sen to RM12.40.

As for the actives, Classita stayed flat at four sen, Pan Malaysia added 2.5 sen to 32 sen, Harvest Miracle and Iconic increased half-a-sen to 11 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively, while SNS declined half-a-sen to 52.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 18.45 points to 12,103.72, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 16.47 points to 11,715.84 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 14.12 points to 12,309.86.

The FBM 70 Index improved 22.17 points to 16,978.27 while the FBM ACE Index slipped 5.11 points to 5,165.38.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 22.82 points to 17,493.47, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.08 of-a-point to 192.73, the Plantation Index increased 22.76 points to 7,485.28, but the Energy Index slipped 2.72 points to 985.93.

-- BERNAMA