Bursa Malaysia is opened higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is opened higher on Wednesday supported by overall sentiment in the United States (US) equity market overnight which was positive.
Bernama reported, at 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.62 points to 1,607.75 from 1,606.13 on Tuesday.
FBM KLCI opened 2.34 points higher to 1,608.47.
Gainers outnumbered losers by 259 to 234 while 325 counters were unchanged, 1,583 were untraded and nine others were suspended.
Total trade of 360.24 million units worth RM158.78 million.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a research note today, US retail sales were below expectations and the market is expected to call for an interest rate cut anytime in the second half of 2024.
He said Wall Street closed higher with the Nasdaq still leading and Nvidia has replaced Microsoft and Apple as the largest market capitalization company, making it the most valuable public company in the US.
From the technical aspect, he said the main index is mixed with the expected obstacle level at 1,620-1,625 and the support level at 1,585-1,590.
On the local bourse, heavyweight YTL Corporation rose 7.0 sen to RM3.57, Petronas Chemicals Group rose 5.0 sen to RM6.56, CelcomDigi and Axiata, each added 3.0 sen to RM3.75 and RM2.78 and Maybank rose 2.0 sen to RM9.95.
In the list of top gainers, PPB Group rose 12 sen to RM14.62, PIE added 10 sen to RM6.85, AEON Credit Service rose 9.0 sen to RM7.79 and Heitech Padu rose 8.0 sen to RM2.02.
Among the most active counters, Ingenieur was unchanged at 7.0 sen, ATA IMS declined 3.5 sen to 48 sen, KTI Landmark shed half a sen to 29.5 sen, Ho Wah Genting rose 3.5 sen to 32.5 sen and WCT added 4.0 sen to 79.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 7.48 points to 12,372.62, the FBMT 100 Index rose 6.88 points to 11,940.00 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 4.97 points to 12,744.34.
The FBM 70 Index, however, declined 10.57 points to 18,094.64 but the FBM ACE Index rose 8.16 points to 5,857.43.
By sector, the Financial Services Index declined 1.77 points to 17,517.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 0.09 points to 199.58, the Energy Index fell 1.91 points to 986.43 and the Plantation Index declined 3.23 points to 7,027.24.