KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday tracking Wall Street's positive performance following indications that US interest rate cuts are in the offing.
At 9.15am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI was up 0.25 per cent or 3.91 points to 1,555.35 versus Thursday's close of 1,551.44. The key index opened 0.11 per cent or 1.72 points higher at 1,553.16.
The broader market saw that gainers led losers 224 to 215 while 279 counters were unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI rebounded as buying on blues chips resumes supported by a slew of decent corporate earnings reported recently particularly from the Banks and Telcos.
"We believe buying on the blues will continue as most are still trading below their historical average valuations thus expect the index to hover within the 1,550-1,560 range today," he said.
On the global front, Wall Street closed broadly higher spearheaded by Nasdaq which jumped 144 points while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47 points. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended slightly lower, attributed to profit taking activities coupled with weak earnings reports from Baidu and Budweiser. "Nonetheless, overall sentiment should stabilise following the removal of curbs on home purchases and property financing limits," added Thong.