Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects the technology sector to resume its uptrend in response to the gains on Nasdaq overnight.
At the same time, it said, the construction sector is likely to trade actively ahead of the elections in six states, a development that would be positive for property, engineering and infrastructure company Gamuda Bhd.
However, it said, the energy sector could see some selling pressure amid a drop in crude oil prices.
The brokerage firm noted that Brent crude oil price has fallen below US$75 a barrel, while crude palm oil price hovered above RM3,550 per tonne, Bernama reported.
At the same time, market players will be monitoring developments at the central banks of the world’s largest economies for clues on interest rates.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) began the trading day at 1,395.52 points, up 0.85 of a point from yesterday’s close of 1,394.67 points.
It continued to creep up in early trade to settle at 1,395.96 points just six minutes after the opening bell.
However, on the broader market, losers led gainers 130 to 85, while 196 counters were unchanged, 1,907 were not traded and 19 others were suspended.
The turnover stood at 225.27 million units worth RM45.38 million.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional eased a sen each to RM3.91 and RM9.19 respectively, while Maybank, CIMB and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM8.75, RM5.24 and RM5.92 respectively.
Of the actives, Wegmans Holdings warrant edged up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, SMRT Holdings slid 3.5 sen to 81 sen and Alam Maritim eased half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, while Fintec Global and Destini were flat at one sen and 10 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 9.49 points higher at 10,260.59, the FBMT 100 Index added 10.98 points to 9,964.07, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 20.11 points to 10,535.79 and the FBM 70 Index advanced 22.37 points to 13,472.59, while the FBM ACE Index shed 13.18 points to 5,097.30.
Sector-wise, the financial services index eased 7.67 points to 15,517.85, the industrial products and services index trimmed 0.12 of a point to 158.77 and the energy index reduced 1.77 points to 786.77, while the plantation index increased 19.47 points to 6,712.33.