By Karina Imran
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower on Monday but subsequently rebounded as mild bargain-hunting emerged, interspersed with profit-taking activities amid Wall Street’s uptrend, said an analyst.
At 9.15 am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI rose 0.02 per cent or 0.30 points to 1,442.27 versus last Friday’s closing of 1,441.97.
The barometer index opened 0.65 points easier at 1,441.32.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 197 to 174, while 278 counters were unchanged, 1,682 untraded, and 23 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 315.76 million units worth RM201.36 million (US$1=RM4.67).
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street trended broadly higher as traders monitored the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed) reaction to a slew of positive economic data, including the higher-than-expected jobs data and improving consumer sentiment.
“Subsequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 130 points while the Nasdaq gained 64 points as the US 10-year yield inched higher to 4.23 per cent,” he told Bernama.
Back home, he noted that the FBM KLCI closed on a flat note last Friday, staying just above the 1,440 level due to the lack of catalysts and regional weaknesses.
He added that bargain hunting and window dressing activities are still absent but may emerge soon.
“Nonetheless, we noticed that the market’s undertone is still cautious, hence we do not anticipate any strong run-up.
“As such, we reckon the index to hover within the 1,440-1,450 range today,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, TNB and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM9.04, RM9.91 and RM7.06, respectively.
Meanwhile, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.25 and CIMB fell five sen to RM5.71.
Of the actives, YTL Corp gained five sen to RM1.74, Iskandar Waterfront City expanded eight sen to 60 sen, Ekovest grew four sen to 48 sen and YTL Power International inched up one sen to RM2.43, while Sarawak Consolidated eased one sen to 80.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 5.77 points to 10,636.45, the FBMT 100 Index added 4.64 points to 10,304.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved by 8.70 points to 10,739.62, the FBM ACE Index climbed 2.17 points to 5,108.59 and the FBM 70 Index perked 17.43 points to 13,974.40.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 11.19 points to 16,322.75, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.17 of-a-point to 169.53 and the Plantation Index was 8.33 points lower at 6,948.66, while the Energy Index inched up 1.41 points to 797.64.
— NNN-BERNAMA