BURSA Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open higher today, tracking the rally on Wall Street amid a muted trading session as traders are waiting for fresh inflation data later today.

At 9.08 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.31 points to 1,491.17 from Wednesday’s close of 1,486.86. The FBM KLCI opened 0.29 of-a-point better at 1,487.15.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 189 to 145, while 291 counters were unchanged, 1,593 untraded and 29 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 293.88 million units worth RM113.12 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said following Wall Street’s overnight rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 171 points while the Nasdaq jumped 112 points higher with the US 10-year yield edging higher at 4.03 per cent.

He said that in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index continues to slide, attributing to the lack of catalysts.

“Nonetheless, the decline in China’s 10-year bond yield has prompted expectations on a cut in interest rates,” he told Bernama. 

Back home, Thong anticipates the emergence of bargain hunters today and expects the index to hover within the 1,485-1,495 range supported by interest in banks.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals inched up one sen each to RM9.01 and RM7.01, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.33, CIMB gained Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated edged up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, MMAG Holdings increased one sen to 12.5 sen, TWL Holdings lost half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, while Sarawak Consolidated and Widad were flat at RM1.08 and 49 sen respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM 70 Index recovered 0.20 of-a-point to 15,078.84, the FBMT 100 Index put on 23.23 points to 10,766.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 14.29 points to 11,249.25, and the FBM Emas Index went up 23.90 points to 11,121.73, but the FBM ACE Index slid 16.08 points to 5,416.77.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.16 of-a-point to 176.30, the Financial Services Index perked by 38.58 points to 16,586.37 and the Energy Index advanced 2.80 points to  852.98, while the Plantation Index garnered  30.08 points to 7,097.59, and the Property Index expanded  0.55 of-a-point to 896.97. — BERNAMA