Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, Tracks Overnight Wall Street Gains

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded on Thursday, snapping a two-day losing streak to open slightly higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as investors digested the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) September meeting minutes.

At 9.11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.54 of-a-point, or 0.03 per cent, to 1,628.04, after closing at 1,627.50 on Wednesday.

The benchmark index opened 1.37 points higher at 1,628.87.

Market breadth was positive, with 220 gainers and 140 decliners, while 271 counters were unchanged, 1,971 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover stood at 165.68 million shares worth RM90.45 million.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said market sentiment was further supported by the reopening of China’s markets following the Golden Week holiday.

“This sense of relief may prove short-lived, providing only temporary comfort while underlying risks such as potential tariffs, economic slowdown and forthcoming Fed policy decisions persist.

“Therefore, we expect consumer and communication-related counters within the FBM KLCI to sustain their upward momentum, extending the positive traction seen yesterday,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.98, CIMB Group fell three sen to RM7.63, and IHH Healthcare slipped nine sen to RM8.01, while Public Bank was unchanged at RM4.34 and Tenaga Nasional gained 10 sen to RM13.30.

In active trade, Jadi Imaging added 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Land & General gained half-a-sen to 17 sen, while Tanco, Inari Amertron and Cheeding were flat at 85 sen, RM2.37 and 80 sen, respectively.

Other top gainers included Nestle, up 30 sen to RM99.60; Malaysian Pacific Industries, 20 sen higher at RM31.02; Petronas Gas, which rose 14 sen to RM18.80; and Arka, eight sen firmer at 70 sen.

Besides IHH Healthcare and CIMB, top losers included PPB, down 10 sen to RM10.88; Paos, 3.5 sen lower at 28 sen; and Lianson Fleet, slipping three sen to RM2.18.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 7.41 points to 12,122.01, the FBM 100 Index added 6.64 points to 11,852.54, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 20.96 points to 12,141.51.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 21.14 points to 16,986.15, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 14.59 points to 5,283.62.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.09 of-a-point to 173.61, the Plantation Index added 21.03 points to 7,851.51, while the Energy Index eased 3.65 points to 788.38 and the Financial Services Index declined 25.89 points to 18,502.44.

-- BERNAMA