Bursa gains in early trade on improved risk sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains as investor sentiment was lifted by the continued pause in military strikes between the US and Iran.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.24 of a point to 1,666.15 from Monday’s close of 1,665.91. The benchmark index opened 1.37 points higher at 1,667.28.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 181 to 130, while 297 counters were unchanged, 2,082 untraded, and 79 suspended.

Turnover stood at 157.26 million shares valued at RM89.56 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI pared earlier losses to end little changed yesterday, possibly due to late bargain-hunting, although investors remained cautious over external uncertainties, as reflected in the day’s relatively low trading volume of 2.7 billion shares.

“With no clear signs of Middle East tensions easing, we anticipate another lacklustre day on the local bourse, with the FBM KLCI expected to trade within the 1,660-1,670 range today,” he added.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional bagged two sen each to RM10.82 and RM14.28, respectively, and Public Bank increased three sen to RM4.82. CIMB was flat at RM7.45, and IHH fell four sen to RM8.36.

Of the active counters, ACE Market debutant Liftech Group eased 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, while Tanco, Senheng and Dagang Nexchange were half-a-sen higher at 15 sen, 15 sen and 42.5 sen, respectively. SNS added three sen to 53.5 sen.

On the gainers’ list, OCB soared 13.5 sen to 99.5 sen, Apollo and Dutch Lady gained 10 sen each to RM5.95 and RM32.60, respectively, Hume Cement improved seven sen to RM2.99, Genting Plantations moved up six sen to RM5.26.

Among the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed RM1 to RM48.10, Batu Kawan dropped 80 sen to RM20.64, Tradeplus slipped 17 sen to RM4.93, KLCC decreased 15 sen to RM8.98, and Press Metal lost 10 sen to RM7.68.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index was 3.81 points higher at 12,383.72, the FBM Top 100 Index added 2.34 points to 12,215.43, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 3.38 points to 12,249.14.

The FBM Mid 70 Index went up 5.82 points to 17,854.54, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 8.28 points to 4,797.57.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 24.17 points to 19,697.20, the Energy Index ticked up 2.92 points to 750.42, the Plantation Index weakened 19.56 points to 8,806.07, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.78 of a point to 180.59.