KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Wednesday following the rally on Wall Street as traders were satisfied with October's consumer price index (CPI) which came in lower than expected.
At 9.15am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI rose 0.59 per cent or 8.52 points to 1,460.24 from Tuesday's close of 1,451.71.
The key index opened 0.13 per cent or 1.89 points higher at 1,453.61.
The broader market is also positive as gainers led decliners 387 to 171 while 314 counters remained unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI rebounded thanks to bargain hunting activities following last week's erratic trading pattern.
"In line with the optimism from the United States (US), we expect the index to maintain its positive momentum thus anticipate the index to trend within the 1,455-1,465 range today.
"Plantation stocks could see some buying interest today as crude palm oil (CPO) price improved to above the RM3,900 per tonne level due to higher imports from India," he noted.
In the US, he said core CPI that excludes food and energy prices actually rose the slowest in two years suggesting the US Federal Reserve will end its interest rate hike campaign for good.
This led to a jump of 1.43 per cent or 490 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average while the Nasdaq added 2.37 per cent ot 327 points as the US 10-year yield eased to 4.45 per cent.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed marginally lower as investors were mainly side-lined ahead of the US inflation report.
The index dipped 29 points to just below the 17,400 mark.