KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened almost flat on Thursday following Wall Street's retreat before rebounding.
At 9.10am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.21 per cent or 3.40 points to 1,625.49 versus Tuesday's close of 1,622.09.
The key index opened 1.43 points lower at 1,620.66.
The broader market saw gainers surpassing losers 389 to 222 while 373 counters were unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI retraced on Tuesday but maintained above the crucial 1,620 level ahead of Wesak Day break.
"Daily volume was still decent at around 5.8 billion units and if this continues to improve, we are confident to see heightening participation especially from the retail segment. "In view of the robust earnings report from Nvidia after market as reflected from the positive reaction in Nasdaq futures, we believe sentiment to stay resilient and expect buying activities within the Southeast Asia region to continue thus expect the benchmark index to hover between the 1,620-1,635 range today," he said in a note.
Thong added that Wall Street retreated as the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve indicated persistent high inflation with no cuts in rates expected anytime soon.
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 202 points while the Nasdaq declined 32 points as the US 10-year yield eased marginally to 4.426 per cent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index took a breather to close marginally lower as sentiment turned cautious ahead of some big tech corporate earnings namely Meituan and Lenovo.