KUALA LUMPUR - Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher on Wednesday, taking its positive cue from Wall Street's performance overnight as traders are betting that the aftermath of the recent bank failures in the United States (US) may have been averted, said an analyst.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 10.37 points to 1,404.20 from Tuesday's close of 1,393.83.
The key index opened 6.27 points better at 1,400.10.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trumping decliners 335 to 97, while 196 counters were unchanged, 1,620 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 423.36 million units worth RM248.51 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said that the latest US consumer price index (CPI) data came in within expectations, which suggests that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may be less aggressive with a rate hike.
He noted that the Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average jumped 336 points, while the Nasdaq added 239 points with the US Treasury 10-year yield edging higher at 3.69 per cent.
"On the home front, the FBM KLCI dipped below the 1,400-level due to broad-based selling amidst the regional bloodbath which was a knee-jerk reaction to the bank failures in the US.
"Nonetheless, we reckon bargain-hunting to emerge today on hopes that the Fed will be less reluctant to hike rates. Thus, we expect buying to return to the banks and telecommunication stocks today," he told Bernama.
Thong also anticipates the index to see a rebound today and expects it to hover in the 1,400 to 1,415 range.
Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank and TNB gained six sen each to RM8.40 and RM9.33, respectively, Public Bank improved seven sen to RM3.95 and CIMB widened five sen to RM5.22, but Petronas Chemicals inched down by one sen to RM6.94.
Among the actives, ACE Market debutant Oppstar jumped RM1.49 to RM2.12, Hong Seng Consolidated increased half-a-sen to 15 sen, Destini added half-a-sen to eight sen, Jade Marvel edged up 1.5 sen to 31 sen and BSL eased half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 80.77 points higher at 10,262.68, the FBM 70 Index swelled 110.99 points to 13,178.60, the FBMT 100 Index was 75.98 points stronger at 9,954.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 65.54 points to 10,547.69, and the FBM ACE Index expanded 49.21 points to 5,226.09.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index ballooned 134.31 points to 15,513.54, the Energy Index pushed up 9.49 points to 833.77, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.40 points to 169.93, and the Plantation Index garnered 33.94 points to 6,701.24. - BERNAMA