The market took the cue from US stocks, which closed little changed yesterday, to open marginally higher on the first day of trading in the Year of the Rabbit.
Dealers said investors were still digesting the weak manufacturing index released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as well as a mixed set of earnings.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) crept up 0.07 of a point to 1,500.40 at 9.05am, from 1,500.33 at last Friday’s close.
The market bellwether opened 0.97 of-a-point better at 1,501.30.
In the broader market, gainers led decliners 205 to 94, while 232 counters were unchanged, 1,665 were not traded and nine others were suspended.
Turnover amounted to 110.87 million units worth RM55.52 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the trading activities were likely to be muted in the holiday-shortened trading week as most investors could still be enjoying the break.
Nevertheless, it said, bouts of upside are to be expected with traders taking further positions in riskier assets following Bank Negara Malaysia’s unexpected move to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) last week.
Commodities wise, the price of Brent crude slipped to close around US$86 a barrel while the crude palm oil (CPO) price is approaching RM3,900 a tonne, it noted.
“For sectors in focus, the oil and gas as well as plantation sectors may garner trading interest with the CPO price recording three consecutive sessions of recovery, while Brent oil price is firmly higher due to the increased demand from the reopening theme.
“Also, construction and building materials-related stocks could turn more positive under the improving labour conditions. Meanwhile, with the freight rates normalising and the weaker Baltic Dry Index, the shipping-related stocks may turn less attractive,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemical added six sen to RM8.56, Tenaga Nasional gained five sen to RM9.50, CIMB eased four sen to RM5.73, while Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM8.80 and RM8.56 respectively.
As for the actives, Nationgate rose four sen to RM1.22, Cosmos Technology improved three sen to 58.5 sen, Industronic shed a sen to 6.5 sen while CSH Alliance and Vinvest Capital were flat at seven sen and 20 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index perked up 11.63 points to 10,854.11, the FBMT 100 Index strengthened by seven points to 10,540.78 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 16.30 points to 11,109.92.
The FBM 70 Index rose 26.84 points to 13,533.49 and the FBM ACE Index advanced 29.86 points to 5,585.94.
Sector-wise, the financial services index slid 0.68 of-a-point to 16,534.45, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.70 of-a-point to 189.06, the plantation index improved 0.62 of-a-point to 6,882.04, and the energy index bagged 2.15 points to 847.96.