KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher on renewed buying interest in the market.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.82 points to 1,777.97 from 1,774.15 on Tuesday, after opening 7.57 points higher at 1,781.72.
On the scoreboard, gainers led losers by 146 to 94, with 160 unchanged, 1,473 untraded and 17 suspended.
Volume stood at 149.55 million units valued at RM88.27 million.
Maybank Investment Bank expects the FBM KLCI to trade between 1,765 and 1,795 today with downside supports at 1,760 and 1,740.
“Despite mixed signals in the overnight US market, stronger oil prices could lend support to weaker domestic sentiment with bargain hunters set to step in,” it said in a note today.
The US markets ended mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index falling after Treasury bond yields rose to multi-year highs while Nasdaq closed slightly higher following gains in technology counters.
Of the heavyweights today, TNB rose two sen to RM15.40, Petronas Chemicals increased six sen to RM9.43, Hone Leong Bank expanded 22 sen to RM20.82, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.29, Maybank and CIMB eased one sen each to RM9.64 and RM6.03 respectively, while Public Bank fell four sen to RM24.92.
For actives, Gamuda bagged six sen to RM2.44, Borneo Oil edged up half-a-sen to six sen, Ho Wah Genting was one sen higher at 17.5 sen, Nova MSC was flat at 17.5 sen, AirAsia X eased 1.5 sen to 26.5 sen, Sapura Energy inched down half-a-sen to 37 sen while Hibiscus Petroleum and Inari Amertron fell one sen each to RM1.29 and RM2.27 respectively.
The FBM 70 added 15.23 points to 14,288.01, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 36.08 points to 12,396.72 and the FBM Ace Index went down 4.80 points to 5,183.81.
The FBM Emas Index was 22.81 points higher at 12,326.73 and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 23.01 points to 12,141.69.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index accelerated by 22.84 points to 17,701.53, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up by 0.67 point to 175.73 while the Plantation Index grew 14.05 points to 7,509.35.