KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia began the day with an upward trend, supported by a series of favorable developments, including the recent rally on Wall Street.
At 9.07 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.93 points to 1,447.70 from Thursday's closing of 1,439.77.
The benchmark index opened 6.95 points firmer at 1,446.72.
The broader market was also positive with gainers leading decliners 231 to 92, while 222 counters were unchanged, 1,806 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover stood at 250.38 million units worth RM83.67 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said as expected, Bank Negara Malaysia kept its Overnight Policy Rate unchanged at 3.00 per cent, which should be good news for all.
Underpinned by a spate of positive news, Thong believes the local bourse is expected to see the return of buyers.
He expects the benchmark index to hover within the 1,440-1,450 range today.
"Again, we advocate investors to stay with banking stocks. We anticipate the financials to chart decent earnings growth for 2023," he told Business Times.
Heavyweights Press Metal Bhd rose six sen to RM4.90, MISC Group Bhd gained 11 sen to RM7.32, CelcomDigi Bhd perked up four sen to RM4.29, IHH Healthcare Bhd added five sen to RM6.03, and Petronas Gas Bhd edged up 20 sen to RM17.30.
Of the actives, MLabs System Bhd, Kinergy Advancement Bhd and KNM Group Bhd were all flat at one sen, 33 sen and 9.5 sen respectively.