KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, despite Wall Street’s mixed close, with the local market buoyed by optimism over a possible end to the US government shutdown.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.50 points to 1,634.11, after opening 2.18 points higher at 1,633.79, from yesterday’s close of 1,631.61.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 178 to 165. There were 271 counters unchanged, 2,125 untraded, and 10 suspended.
Turnover totalled 129.38 million shares worth RM60.08 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street ended mixed, with hopes for progress on the US government shutdown supporting a risk-on sentiment, while concerns over stretched technology valuations capped gains.
“The optimism regarding the end of the US government shutdown has a spillover effect on the local bourse. Moreover, we anticipate resilient buying interest in local technology stocks, with a key focus on high-momentum names,” it said in a research note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM9.94 and RM4.27, CIMB added one sen to RM7.60, Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM13.44 and IHH Healthcare rose six sen to RM8.30.
On the most active list, Borneo Oil, Tanco and Dagang Nexchange were all flat at one sen, 94 sen and 30 sen, respectively. MMAG and VS Industry increased half-a-sen to 8.0 sen and 47.5 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers are Nestle went up 90 sen to RM113.80, Fraser & Neave added 58 sen to RM31.62, Dutch Lady rose 32 sen to RM27.60 and VSTecs was 15 sen firmer at RM4.37.
Top losers included United Plantations fell 76 sen to RM25.48, Paragon dropped 4.5 sen to 61 sen, while Pentamaster and Panasonic lost four sen each to RM3.84 and RM7.85, respectively.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 66.84 points to 11,909.46, the FBM Emas Index jumped 71.57 points to 12,156.15 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 11.38 points to 11,878.12.
The FBM ACE Index declined 0.81 of a point to 5,063.86, and the FBM Mid 70 Index weakened 13.37 points to 16,942.09.
By sector, the Plantation Index strengthened 5.94 points to 8,179.42, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.67 of a point to 168.40, the Financial Services Index jumped 12.17 points to 18,440.03, while the Energy Index gave up 0.71 of-a-point to 757.38.
