BURSA Malaysia opened higher this morning as investors shifted their focus back on mega-cap corporate earnings amid the heightened inflationary pressure, a dealer said. 

At 9.07 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.34 points to 1,438.99 from Tuesday’s closing of 1,435.65.

The benchmark index opened 2.32 points higher at 1,437.97.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 180 to 93, while 252 counters were unchanged, 1,843 untraded and 20 suspended.

Turnover stood at 207.34 million units worth RM70.80 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expected the overall trading mood to remain positive at least for the near term.

Meanwhile, it said Wall Street’s sentiment turned positive as investors focused on the earnings season as some of the mega-cap corporates beat estimates, coupled with stronger guidance from the management.

“With buying interest resuming on Wall Street, it may spill over to stocks on the local front, especially the technology sector,” said the brokerage firm in a note today. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank added two sen to RM8.98 and RM4.16 respectively, CIMB and Tenaga Nasional went up one sen to RM5.69 and RM9.86 respectively, while Petronas Chemicals advanced five sen to RM7.20. 

Of the actives, Ta Win and Tanco were unchanged at 3.5 sen and 57.5 sen respectively, Leform and Hong Seng edged up half-a-sen to 23.5 sen and five sen respectively, and Privasia expanded one sen to 11.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 18.72 points 10,610.05, the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched up 11.80 points to 10,830.06, the FBMT 100 Index perked 18.27 points to 10,286.12, the FBM 70 Index was 0.36 of-a-point up to 13,968.79 and the FBM ACE Index gained 11.41 points to 5,058.72.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.31 of-a-point better at 171.42, the Financial Services Index increased by 44.59 points to 16,225.70, while the Energy Index weakened 4.27 points to 869.58 and the Plantation Index added 7.25 points to 6,849.99. — BERNAMA