KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened marginally higher on Friday, supported by renewed buying in selected heavyweights amidst improving sentiments among regional peers, a dealer said.
At 9.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 1.66 points to 1,417.26 from Thursday’s closing of 1,415.60.
The index opened 0.31 of-a-point easier at 1,415.29.
On the broader market, gainers edged past decliners 124 to 115, while 240 counters were unchanged, 1,837 untraded and 15 suspended.
Turnover stood at 118.21 million units worth RM50.95 million (US$1=RM4.72).
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may focus on domestic catalysts such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) for trading opportunities.
“Investors may also focus on fundamentally solid companies which have earnings growth over the past two quarters,” it said in a note Friday.
Meanwhile, the brokerage firm said stocks related to renewable energy, construction, property and building materials will likely benefit under the NETR and NIMP blueprints, and traders may position themselves in light of the upcoming Budget 2024.
“However, the energy sector is likely to be under pressure amid falling Brent crude prices,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was one sen weaker at RM8.75, Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.05 and CIMB rose two sen to RM5.43, while Tenaga Nasional and Petronas were unchanged at RM9.96 and RM7.10, respectively.
Of the actives, Kinergy Advancement and Econpile advanced half-a-sen to 34 sen and 32 sen, respectively, Southern Cable gained 1.5 sen to 38 sen, Tanco was flat at 55 sen and Sarawak Consolidated slid half-a-sen to 49 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index recovered 8.63 points to 10,502.42, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 8.10 points to 10,170.39, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 9.31 points to 10,789.56.
The FBM ACE Index increased 11.68 points to 5,123.32, while the FBM 70 Index slid 5.37 points to 13,984.70.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.19 of-a-point to 170.10 and the Financial Services Index climbed 18.24 points to 15,881.91, while the Energy Index gave up 1.27 points to 848.0 and the Plantation Index fell 0.64 points to 6,836.97.
— NNN-BERNAMA