Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, bolstered by a rally on Wall Street last Friday and ongoing bargain-hunting activities. At 9.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 2.91 points to reach 1,620.48, having opened 2.57 points higher at 1,620.14 compared to Friday's closing of 1,617.57.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the market exhibited a positive breadth with 193 gainers surpassing 128 decliners. Additionally, 284 counters remained unchanged, 2,182 were untraded, and 28 were suspended. The turnover recorded was 1.18 million shares valued at RM61.88 million.
Thong Pak Leng, the vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that Wall Street's upward movement on Friday was fueled by investors' bargain-hunting activities following several days of declines. Locally, he predicted that the FBM KLCI would remain range-bound due to investors' cautious stance amid ongoing macroeconomic developments. However, the broader market showed signs of strength, supported by robust trading volumes in recent sessions, suggesting a gradual return of investors. Thong anticipated that bargain-hunting activities would persist, with the benchmark index likely trading within the 1,615-1,625 range for the day.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell by one sen to RM9.93, while CIMB increased by seven sen to RM7.53. Tenaga Nasional rose by two sen to RM13.12, while Public Bank and IHH remained unchanged at RM4.28 and RM8.12, respectively.
In the most actively traded stocks, Tanco and AHB remained unchanged at RM1.04 and three sen, respectively. Meanwhile, Land and General rose by 1.5 sen to 16 sen, Catcha Digital gained 2.5 sen to 34 sen, and DC Healthcare added half a sen to 12 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose by 20 sen to RM112.20, along with APM and F and N, both up by 14 sen to RM3.40 and RM32.76, respectively. Sarawak Plantation gained 10 sen to RM3.15, and Sarawak Oil increased by eight sen to RM3.94.
Conversely, among the top losers, Aeon Credit and Malayan Cement each decreased by seven sen to RM5.41 and RM6.28, respectively. Kimlun, Paragon, and Master-Pack each fell by five sen to RM1.30, RM3.13, and RM2.00.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index advanced by 22.72 points to 11,792.83, the FBM Emas Index gained 24.47 points to 12,021.28, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 22.39 points to 12,015.07. The FBM ACE Index eased by 3.41 points to 4,938.18, while the FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 39.27 points to 16,880.30.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased by 34.84 points to 18,410.84, the Plantation Index gained 11.39 points to 8,248.02, the Energy Index added 0.93 of-a-point to 756.89, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up by 0.35 of-a-point to 165.28.