Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday, driven by buying interest in selected heavyweights, even as Wall Street experienced a weaker overnight performance.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 1.39 points to 1,703.69 from Monday's close of 1,702.30. The index began the day 0.31 points higher at 1,702.61. The market showed positive breadth, with 205 gainers surpassing 127 losers. A total of 304 counters remained unchanged, while 2,123 were untraded and 13 suspended. Turnover was recorded at 212.37 million shares, valued at RM143.83 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street's decline was due to rising tensions between the United States and Iran. As a result, crude oil prices increased, with Brent crude reaching US$96 per barrel, while the US 10-year yield remained at 4.258 per cent. Thong added that the FBM KLCI is anticipated to trade within the 1,695-1,710 range for the day.
In the heavyweight category, Maybank decreased by six sen to RM11.28 and Public Bank dropped by one sen to RM4.68. Conversely, Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM14.48, CIMB Group rose seven sen to RM7.66, and IHH Healthcare declined three sen to RM8.75.
Among the most actively traded stocks, MTT Shipping remained unchanged at RM1.03, TWL Holdings decreased by half a sen to two sen, Euro Holdings increased by 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen, VS Industry added one sen to 20 sen, and Zetrix AI rose 0.5 sen to 86 sen.
Key gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which advanced 30 sen to RM34.50, Petronas Dagangan with a 16 sen increase to RM20.36, VSTECS up by 10 sen to RM5.06, Malayan Cement increasing by nine sen to RM7.29, and MN Holdings climbing eight sen to RM2.19.
Top losers included Hong Leong Bank, which dropped 12 sen to RM22.28, UMS Integration fell nine sen to RM6.06, Petronas Chemicals slid seven sen to RM5.24, and both Press Metal and Hong Leong Capital eased six sen to RM7.88 and RM3.23, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 15.92 points to 12,399.70. The FBM Emas Index added 18.48 points to 12,561.83, the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 47.52 points to 17,736.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 23.65 points to 12,447.32, and the FBM ACE Index gained 24.99 points to 4,607.97.
By sector, the Financial Services Index eased 6.35 points to 20,011.10, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.60 points to 186.12, the Energy Index added 0.63 points to 806.69, and the Plantation Index rose 3.89 points to 8,876.01.