Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open firmer on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's rally overnight, fueled by hopes of United States interest rate cuts. At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.69 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,618.43, compared with Tuesday's close of 1,611.74. The benchmark index opened 4.39 points higher at 1,616.13.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was positive, with 191 gainers outpacing 111 decliners, while 272 counters were unchanged, 2,227 untraded, and 82 suspended. Turnover stood at 1.30 million shares valued at RM74.29 million. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng remarked that bargain hunting activities may appear at the local bourse due to prevailing low valuations. He noted that the steady rise in market volume indicates that investor interest remains despite the current consolidation phase, predicting the benchmark index to trade within the 1,610-1,625 range.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank remained flat at RM9.98 and RM4.30 respectively. CIMB rose two sen to RM7.49, IHH added four sen to RM8.08, while Tenaga Nasional slipped two sen to RM13.08. On the most active list, Aizo fell 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, D and O Green lost 10 sen to 99 sen, Green Packet and Tanco were unchanged at four sen and RM1.08 respectively, while Zelan rose half a sen to three sen.
Top gainers included Hong Leong Industries, which rose 66 sen to RM15, Malayan Pacific garnered 56 sen to RM33.60, Allianz added 32 sen to RM18.40, Petronas Dagangan increased 28 sen to RM20.90, and Hong Leong Bank put on 18 sen to RM21.46. Among the top losers, United Plantation lost 20 sen to RM28.40, DRB-Hicom fell 14 sen to RM1.16, Greatech eased nine sen to RM1.70, and BM Greentech and Vitrox each fell seven sen to RM1.46 and RM4.21 respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 39.33 points to 12,025.68, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 29.80 points to 11,995.32, while the FBMT 100 Index advanced 41.64 points to 11,798.07. The FBM ACE Index slipped 9.87 points to 4,9915.17, while the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 28.77 points to 16,975.57. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 74.54 points to 18,543.54, the Plantation Index gained 15.22 points to 8,247.44, the Energy Index eased 0.38 of a point to 759.94, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.34 of a point to 163.89.