Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, Tracking Wall Street Gains

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid optimism after the United States signalled that the conflict with Iran could end soon.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.21 points to 1,719.90 from Wednesday’s close of 1,717.69. 

The benchmark index opened 3.74 points higher at 1,721.43.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 283 to 172, while 293 counters were unchanged, 1,970 untraded and 32 suspended.

Turnover stood at 296.70 million shares worth RM214.35 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said crude oil prices eased to around US$105 per barrel, while the US 10-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.585 per cent as Wall Street closed higher.

“Meanwhile, Nvidia reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 after market close, with its second-quarter outlook also surpassing consensus forecasts.

“Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined, particularly among high-growth technology stocks, on concerns over rising US bond yields, which heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts,” he told Bernama.

Back home, after the FBM KLCI closed below the 1,720 level yesterday, Thong expects the ongoing consolidation to persist, although bargain-hunting may re-emerge following Wall Street’s solid performance overnight.

“Therefore, we expect the index to trade within the 1,715-1,730 range today,” he added.

Among heavyweight stocks, Malayan Banking added four sen to RM11.10, Public Bank and CIMB Group gained one sen each to RM4.78 and RM7.77, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional fell two sen to RM14.44 and IHH Healthcare was unchanged at RM8.99.

Among active stocks, ACE Market debutant EI Power rose seven sen to 55 sen, PUC edged up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, MKH gained 24 sen to RM1.90, SkyeChip fell four sen to RM2.17, and Perdana Petroleum slipped half-a-sen to 18 sen.

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which surged RM1.14 to RM45.34, Vitrox, which advanced 18 sen to RM6.40, UWC, which gained 17 sen to RM5.56, Petronas Gas, which rose 16 sen to RM17.36, and VSTECS, which added 14 sen to RM5.89.

Among top losers, Oriental Holdings fell 18 sen to RM7.04, Petronas Dagangan lost 12 sen to RM18.70, UMS Integration declined 11 sen to RM8.02, Petronas Chemicals shed 10 sen to RM5.60, and Dialog Group slipped six sen to RM2.07.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 22.04 points to 12,739.54, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 21.06 points to 12,579.67, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 18.06 points to 12,661.77, the FBM ACE Index advanced 31.23 points to 4,689.19, and the FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 51.56 points to 18,260.50.

By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 36.72 points to 20,049.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.46 of-a-point to 198.83, the Energy Index shed 6.02 points to 786.47, and the Plantation Index fell 11.23 points to 8,649.44.

-- BERNAMA