KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened higher amid reports that the US lawmakers are nearing an agreement about raising the US debt ceiling.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 0.49 of-a-point to 1,403.47 from 1,402.98 at Friday’s close.

The barometer index opened 2.49 points stronger at 1,405.47.

The broader market saw advancers surpassing decliners 186 to 163, while 229 counters were unchanged, 1,697 untraded and 53 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 323.64 million units worth RM149.84.64 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research VP Thong Pak Leng said the latest news that a tentative deal has been reached to avoid a US default may spur some buying activities on the regional markets, and hence may see some accumulation of stocks domestically.

“Thus, we expect the index to trend within the 1,400-1,410 range today,” he told Bernama.

He said the local bourse remained stuck in a consolidation phase despite decent earnings from the banks of late.

Investors continued to be sidelined despite the index currently hovering at a two-month low level, he said. 

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may also monitor Malaysia’s and US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI as well as the US unemployment rate this week.

It said Brent crude oil traded above US$76 per barrel, while the crude palm oil (CPO) price climbed above RM3,500 per tonne, and might bolster demand for oil and gas (O&G) as well as palm-related counters.

Malacca Securities said the rallies on Wall Street Nasdaq last Friday should spill over to the local technology stocks, while the poultry sector may gain momentum prior to the potential lifting of poultry ceiling prices after June.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added 1.0 sen to RM8.59, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) perked 6.0 sen to RM7.01, Public Bank Bhd declined 1.0 sen to RM3.89, Tenaga Nasional Bhd slid 4.0 sen to RM9.65, while CelcomDigi Bhd was flat at RM4.46. 

As for the active counters, Cloudpoint Technology Bhd edged up 14 sen to 52 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd improved half-a-sen to 4 sen, YTL Corp Bhd earned 4 sen to 87.5 sen, Classita Holdings Bhd garnered 1 sen to 12.5 sen, while VinVest Capital Holdings Bhd was flat at 6 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 15.04 points to 10,311.48, the FBM T100 Index gained 14.87 points to 10,017.5, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 9.04 points to 10,678.07, the FBM 70 Index strengthened 67.1 points to 13,547.1 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 9.14 points to 4,971.76.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.7 of-a-point to 164.78, the Plantation Index lost 9.29 points to 6,745.97, the Energy Index put on 3.62 points to 811.93 and the Financial Services Index earned 32.35 points to 15,336.78. – Bernama / pic TMR File