Bursa Malaysia opens higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher after the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed above the 1,700 points level yesterday.
At 9.05am, the KLCI stood at 1,718.99, up 6.41 points, from Monday's close of 1,712.58.
The index opened 0.37-of-a-point higher at 1,712.95 at 9am.
Market breadth was positive as gainers led losers by 159 to 77 with 189 counters unchanged, 1,305 untraded and 23 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 166.81 million shares worth RM64.52 million.
A dealer said investor confidence remained intact since the local bourse breached the 1,700-points psychological barrier since Monday.
He also said the better-than-expected economic data released last Thursday also helped to boost market sentiment.
In a note today, Kenanga Research said the KLCI was likely to consolidate this week.
"The upside resistance is now seen between the 1,720 and 1,729 points range while support was detected at the 1,710 and 1,700 mark.
Heavyweights, Maybank added five sen to RM8.47, Public Bank improved two sen to RM20.06, Sime Darby bagged 10 sen to RM9.30 but Tenaga lost two sen to RM13.52.
Among actives, Dagang Nexchange rose two sen to 39.5 sen and its warrant inched up half-a-sen to 10 sen, XOX and Hibiscus Petroleum were half-a-sen higher at 11 sen and 50.5 sen, respectively, while Sterling Progress lost half-a-sen to 20.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index increased 37.10 points to 12,090.34, the FBM Emas Syariah Index jumped 40.60 points to 12,585.81 and the FBMT100 Index garnered 37.31 points to 11,766.74.
The FBM 70 ticked up 19.0 points to 13,903.72 and the FBM Ace gained 22.28 points to 5,328.76.
On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index surged 64.42 points to 15,128.18, the Industrial Index added 30.39 points to 3,322.49 but the Plantation Index was 28.15 points lower at 8,045.08.
Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives was untraded in early session today on lack of interest for the precious metal.
As at 9.21am, February 2017, March 2017, April 2017 and May 2017 remained pegged at RM174.70, RM174.00, RM174.50 and RM175.10 per gramme, respectively.
Turnover was nil while open interest amounted to 345 contracts.
At 9.30am, physical gold was down 24 sen at RM171.11 a gramme. — Bernama