Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note today, buoyed by a stronger ringgit that lifted investor sentiment, despite a weaker performance on Wall Street. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 7.38 points, or 0.45 percent, reaching 1,631.95, compared to Monday's close of 1,624.57. The index had initially opened 2.50 points higher at 1,627.07.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market remained optimistic, with 242 gainers overtaking 132 losers. There were 301 unchanged counters, while 2,013 remained untraded and 10 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 149.13 million shares, valued at RM121.76 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street saw a broad decline as profit-taking emerged after a recent rally, compounded by a sharp drop in Bitcoin that indicated a reduced risk appetite. "Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.09 percent," Thong told Bernama.
Thong further commented that on the domestic front, the strengthening ringgit is expected to lead to further net foreign fund inflows, with the FBM KLCI likely to stay within the 1,620-1,630 range today. Among key stocks, Maybank increased by 11 sen to RM10.08, CIMB by four sen to RM7.99, and Public Bank by two sen to RM4.38. However, Tenaga Nasional slipped by eight sen to RM13.24, and IHH Healthcare decreased by two sen to RM8.38.
On the most actively traded list, Capital A saw a rise of 16 sen to 40.5 sen, Pegasus edged up by half-a-sen to one sen, while Tanco and Zetrix AI remained flat at RM1.16 and 81.5 sen, respectively. Bumi Armada also saw an increase of one sen to 31.5 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which climbed RM1.16 sen to RM113.20, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 34 sen to RM19.44, Petronas Dagangan added 30 sen to RM20.90, Fraser and Neave rose 24 sen to RM35.12, and Malaysian Pacific Industries strengthened 22 sen to RM31.58.
Among the top losers, Gamuda decreased by eight sen to RM5.22, Hong Leong Industries fell by eight sen to RM15.56, KESM declined by six sen to RM2.82, MR DIY slipped by five sen to RM1.58, and PJ Bumi eased by three sen to RM1.66.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 48.32 points to 12,047.19, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 24.75 points to 11,928.21, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 51.72 points to 11,841.98, and the FBM Mid 70 Index enhanced 65.39 points to 16,801.37. However, the FBM ACE Index dropped by 13.60 points to 4818.31.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 140.44 points to 18,925.89, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.31 of a point to 166.27, the Energy Index increased by 2.78 points to 752.23, and the Plantation Index rose 35.50 points to 8,069.42.