KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher as the index has been tracking a return in positive investor sentiment in global markets.
At the start of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 3.85 points to 1,567.50, affirming the continuation of a rally.
At 9.11 am, the FBM KLCI increased 7.81 points to 1,569.45 from Tuesday's close of 1,561.64.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 284 to 105 while 277 counters were unchanged, 1,698 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 220.10 million units worth RM112.89 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the Wall Street closed higher as confidence was buoyed by a spate of solid corporate earnings.
Thong said this may be seen as a precursor of those from the mega caps which will be reported over the next few days.
"On the home front, the FBM KLCI closed on a positive note but off the day's high attributed to late profit takings.
"The local benchmark index managed to test a year to date high but failed to sustain the uptrend. Buying was broad based and we believe the construction, finance and telco sectors to be the centre of buying interests today thus expect the index to hover within the 1,560-1,570 range," he told the Business Times today.
On the heavyweight, CIMB Bank Bhd rose 11 sen to RM6.78, Petronas Dagangan added 12 sen to RM21.72, RHB Bhd Bhd climbed three sen to RM5.56, Malayan Banking Bhd added two sen to RM9.84 and Public bank Bhd gained two sen to RM4.23.
For the most actives, Ingenieur Gudang Bhd added half sen to 14sen, Borneo Oil Bhd rose half sen to 10 sen and RGB International Bhd up one sen to 39sen.