BURSA Malaysia opened 0.15% higher today, buoyed by improving sentiments which could see the benchmark index breaching the 1,500-level again, a dealer said.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 2.29 points to 1,497.78 from Thursday’s closing of 1,495.49. 

The benchmark index opened 0.89 points firmer at 1,496.38.

On the broader market, gainers inched past losers 190 to 188, while 250 counters were unchanged, 1,731 untraded and 35 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 273.54 million units worth RM163.66 million.

Rakuten Trade VP of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the bullish sentiment at the opening today was further backed by the slew of positive earnings reports yesterday, and the composite index is expected to trend within the 1,500-1,515 range.

“Buying interest will be on banking and technology-related stocks today,” he said to Bernama.

He noted that Wall Street closed on an intraday high overnight, ahead of the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech later today as traders remain optimistic of a soft landing for the US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 322 points, while the Nasdaq jumped by 208 points as the US 10-year yield eased slightly to 3.03%.

Back home, Bursa heavyweights Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.62, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose five sen to RM8.70, Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM8.84 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd declined two sen to RM5.38.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd inched up half-a-sen to four sen, Coraza Integrated Technology Bhd improved by one sen to 85.5 sen, MQ Technology Bhd was flat at four sen and Jaks Resources Bhd was three sen easier at 29.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 10.15 points to 10,635.98, the FBM T100 Index gained 13.19 points to 10,379.2, the FBM 70 added 5.39 points to 12,741.61 and the FBM ACE went up 19.04 points to 5,009.91, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 19.03 points to 10,775.87. 

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 18.87 points better at 6,972.5 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.42 of-a-point to 183.47, while the Financial Services Index erased 2.14 points to 16,646.49 and the Energy Index went down by 8.17 points to 724.68. — Bernama