By Zairina Zainudin
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note on Monday on improving risk appetite, following rising oil prices as well as stable market sentiments post-Budget 2024.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.32 points to 1,445.46 from Friday’s closing of 1,444.14.
The index opened 1.22 points better at 1,445.36.
On the broader market, gainers edged past decliners 140 to 132, while 268 counters were unchanged, 1,814 untraded and 24 suspended.
Turnover stood at 298.63 million units worth RM84.38 million (US$1=RM4.74).
The international benchmark Brent crude oil jumped 5.7 per cent to US$90.89 per barrel on Friday amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the post-budget reaction on the local bourse to be neutral, although buying support on the construction players is expected to persist.
“As for the broader market, we anticipate it to remain lacklustre, thus we expect the index to hover within the 1,440-1,450 range today,” he told Bernama.
On Friday, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the unity government has provided RM393.8 billion for Budget 2024 with three ministries – Finance, Education and Health being the main recipients.
Among the Bursa heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM7.36 and IHH Healthcare gained three sen to RM5.99, while Maybank and CIMB slipped one sen each to RM8.97 and RM5.65, respectively, and Public Bank was flat at RM4.17.
Of the actives, Classita and Tanco shed 0.5 sen each to 6.5 sen and 56.5 sen, respectively, while Compugates and Velesto added 0.5 sen each to 1.5 sen and 26 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 9.23 points to 10,704.18, the FBMT 100 Index rose 8.46 points to 10,365.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index earned 12.54 points to 10,938.01 and the FBM 70 Index bagged 6.97 points to 14,220.39, while the FBM ACE Index added 0.34 of-a-point to 5,145.29.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 20.02 points to 16,284.2, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.42 of-a-point to 174.86, the Energy Index was 9.27 points higher at 886.63, while the Plantation Index gained 2.97 points to 6,865.7.
— NNN-BERNAMA
