Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today despite a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased by 2.00 points to 1,729.71, up from yesterday's close of 1,727.71. The benchmark index began the day 5.17 points higher at 1,732.88. However, on the broader market, the number of losers surpassed gainers with 211 to 205, while 329 counters remained unchanged, 1,959 were untraded, and 12 were suspended. Turnover stood at 224.06 million shares valued at RM135.48 million.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street ended with mixed results as both the Nasdaq and S and P 500 indices fell due to persistent sell-downs on technology stocks, driven by escalating crude oil prices and bond yields. He mentioned that the US 10-year yield showed a slight decrease to 4.585 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index continued its decline as China's weaker-than-expected economic data for April impacted investor confidence, particularly due to the slowest growth in retail sales since December 2022.
Thong Pak Leng also highlighted that back home, the FBM KLCI ended lower, below the 1,730 level, providing foreign funds with reasons to unload their holdings. He anticipated that investors would adopt a risk-averse stance, potentially engaging in bargain hunting if the index approaches the 1,700 mark or below. He predicted the index to trend within the 1,720-1,735 range today. Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects the FBM KLCI to trade in a risk-off mode, tracking Wall Street's mixed performance.
Among heavyweight stocks, CIMB increased by three sen to RM7.83, Tenaga Nasional added 12 sen to RM14.56, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.81, IHH Healthcare dropped one sen to RM9.04, and Maybank remained flat at RM11.08. In the active stocks category, Oppstar rose by three sen to 96 sen, TT Vision and Pharmaniaga both added one sen to 35 sen and 25 sen, respectively, while GIIB and TWL remained unchanged at 30.5 sen and 2.5 sen.
Top gainers included Sunway Construction, which surged 34 sen to RM7.44, 99 Speed Mart Retail, which advanced 18 sen to RM3.46, Hong Leong Industries, which increased by 14 sen to RM18.62, Westports, which improved 13 sen to RM6.11, and Petronas Gas, gaining 12 sen to RM17.96. Among the top losers, Nestle fell 88 sen to RM94.52, UMS Integration slid 51 sen to RM7.89, Hong Leong Bank dropped 18 sen to RM21.80, Sam Engineering and Equipment lost 15 sen to RM4.51, and Malaysian Pacific Industries slipped 10 sen to RM43.10.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 11.34 points to 12,816.11, the FBM Top 100 Index advanced 10.16 points to 12,652.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 11.68 points to 12,760.75, the FBM ACE Index inched up 0.59 of a point to 4,720.64, but the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 4.31 points to 18,373.20. By sector, the Financial Services Index fell 7.54 points to 20,110.86, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 1.01 points to 198.65, the Energy Index shed 2.66 points to 804.41, and the Plantation Index went down 16.93 points to 8,590.99.