BURSA Malaysia opened higher today despite a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight ahead of the United States (US) nonfarm payrolls data (NFP) for August to be released later today.

The market was closed yesterday for the National Day public holiday.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.06 points to 1,457.00 from 1,451.94 at Wednesday’s close.

The key index opened 9.97 points firmer at 1,461.91. 

The broader market was slightly negative with decliners surpassing advancers 213 to 205 while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,619 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 367.09 million units worth RM204.98 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said should the NFP data come in below expectation, it will provide the US Federal Reserve a reason to pause the interest rate hike further.

“On the local front, we expect greater trading activities, supported by the news flow regarding the National Industrial Master Plan (to be launched today),” it said. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that Wall Street ended mixed as all three major indices closed at their day’s low as traders were closely looking at the August job data later today.

“Reflecting the cautious sentiment, the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.48 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.11 per cent as the US 10-year yield slid slightly to 4.106 per cent.

“Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index yesterday declined by another 100 points as the exodus of foreign funds continue,” he said. 

Additionally, Thong said concerns over the slump in China’s manufacturing activity and debt woes amongst the Chinese developers persist to plague sentiment as recent supportive measures implemented may be insufficient to spur overall demand.

Back home, he expects some buying to return, albeit at a muted level, amid another mixed regional performance, thus, projecting the FBM KLCI to trend at the 1,450-1,460 range today with focus possibly shifting to plantation stocks following another impressive trend by the crude palm oil price currently trading at around RM4,000 per tonne level. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM9.17, Public Bank increased three sen to RM4.26, CIMB and Tenaga Nasional gained seven sen each to RM5.70 and RM9.91, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals decreased 16 sen to RM6.96.   

Of the actives, Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, Alam Maritim put on one sen to 3.5 sen, Ekovest slid half-a-sen to 53.5 sen, Top Glove edged down 2.5 sen to 74 sen, while Tanco was flat at 57 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 26.25 points to 10,766.95, the FBMT 100 Index rose 26.80 points to 10,438.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 0.42 of-a-point to 10,921.06, the FBM 70 Index fell 3.08 points to 14,279.99, while the FBM ACE Index gave up 16.61 points to 5,201.36. 

Sector-wise, the Energy Index expanded 6.48 points to 842.07, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.48 points to 170.27, the Plantation Index surged 53.88 points to 6,983.51, and the Financial Services Index climbed 91.85 points to 16,477.45. — BERNAMA