Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia rebounded from Thursday's losses, opening marginally higher on Friday due to renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights amid mixed sentiment in regional markets. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) recorded a modest gain of 0.17 of a point, or 0.01 percent, reaching 1,549.16 from the previous close of 1,548.99. The benchmark index had initially opened 1.75 points higher at 1,550.74.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth showed positivity, with 157 gainers surpassing 134 decliners. A total of 268 counters remained unchanged, while 1,828 were untraded and 21 were suspended. Turnover at the time stood at 152.15 million shares valued at RM80.68 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd indicated that the local bourse might trade on firmer ground following a positive lead overnight from Wall Street. This optimism was attributed to ongoing buying interest in tech stocks after the de-escalation of the United States-Vietnam trade deal, alongside the return of foreign funds over the past week.
The sentiment on Wall Street was described as 'risk-on', buoyed by stronger-than-expected jobs growth and easing trade tensions following the US-Vietnam trade agreement. It is anticipated that the data centre theme could regain momentum, prompting positive trading activity within the technology and telecommunications sectors.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank dropped 1.0 sen to RM9.79, Public Bank increased 1.0 sen to RM4.31, Tenaga Nasional rose by 8.0 sen to RM14.10, CIMB advanced 2.0 sen to RM6.81, while IHH Healthcare declined 3.0 sen to RM6.82.
In terms of active trade, Borneo Oil and Nationgate remained unchanged at half-a-sen and RM1.67, respectively. Innature and SNS Network saw minor improvements of half-a-sen to 21 sen and 55.5 sen, respectively, whereas Inari Amertron fell 1.0 sen to RM2.14.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 4.99 points to 11,612.71, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 6.85 points to 11,385.07, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 10.80 points to 11,627.22. The FBM 70 Index declined by 45.43 points to 16,787.10, while the FBM ACE Index experienced a slight increase of 0.26 of a point to 4,527.76.
By sector, the Financial Services Index saw a slight increase of 14.94 points to 17,749.53, the Plantation Index narrowed by 16.26 points to 7,419.57, and the Energy Index was marginally down by 0.12 of a point to 743.39. The Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.08 of a point to 156.09.