KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started the week on a positive note on Tuesday, despite the absence of significant catalysts and a quieter trading environment due to the Chinese New Year holiday season.
As of 9:36 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) had risen by 6.80 points to 1,519.08, compared to the previous Friday's close of 1,512.28.
On the broader market, there were more gainers than losers, with 159 gainers compared to 93 losers.Additionally, 220 counters remained unchanged.
According to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's daily market report, the FBM KLCI remained steady before the Lunar New Year break, supported by ongoing buying activity from foreign funds.
"We believe more funds will be channelled back into the South East Asia region with Malaysia slowly back into the limelight amid improving political stability."Meanwhile, we expect retail participation to improve over time as the market undertone gets better," it noted.
Rakuten Trade highlighted that the index is expected to stay in the 1,510-1,520 range today, with renewed buying interest focusing on the banking sector.
In contrast, Wall Street closed with mixed results as traders await further corporate earnings reports and the release of the latest consumer price index (CPI) later in the day.
"Nonetheless, the DJI Average rose 126 points to a new record high as the Nasdaq fell 48 points as the US 10-year yield declined marginally at 4.17 per cent. The Hong Kong market will be closed today and will resume trading tomorrow," it added.