The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened slightly higher on Friday, tracking the Wall Street’s weaker performance overnight amidst mixed reactions to corporate earnings results, a dealer said.
At 9.10 am, the FBM KLCI rose 1.59 points to 1,408.28 from 1,406.69 at yesterday’s close.
The key index opened 0.79 of-a-point firmer at 1,407.48.
However, the broader market was negative as decliners beat advancers 195 to 130, while 269 counters were unchanged, 1,700 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 264.25 million units worth RM117.65 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng expects the local bourse to see mild bargain-hunting activities today, with interest shifting towards telecommunication stocks which have been underperforming.
“At the same time, we believe regional sentiments to remain cautious due to the upcoming United States Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, which could possibly cause another lacklustre trading day,” he told Bernama, adding that the key index is expected to hover between 1,400 and 1,410 today.
Meanwhile, Thong noted that the plantation sector may see some buying interest as the crude palm oil price has surged to a four-month high at above RM4,000 per tonne.
Among the heavyweights, both Maybank and Public Bank lost one sen to RM8.79 and RM3.96, respectively, while CIMB gained two sen to RM5.24 and both Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals rose one sen to RM9.08 and RM6.51, respectively.
Of the actives, Classita added one sen to 20 sen and Destini inched up half-a-sen to 8.5 sen, while DC Healthcare was flat at 45 sen and UEM Sunrise fell half-a-sen to 44.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 4.76 points to 10,423.04, the FBMT 100 Index was 8.27 points higher at 10,107.71, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was up 5.70 points to 10,727.35.
Meanwhile, the FBM 70 Index dropped 2.05 points to 13,902.60, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 24.82 points to 5,356.05.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 3.80 points to 15,678.64, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.27 of-a-point to 163.17 and the Energy Index eased 0.7 of-a-point to 815.17, while the Plantation Index climbed 67.21 points to 7,039.27. — Bernama / pic TMR