At 9.11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.32 points to 1,622.59 from Friday’s close of 1,613.27 after opening 6.84 points firmer at 1,620.11.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing decliners 404 to 112, while 309 counters were unchanged, 1,900 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 393.52 million shares worth RM238.42 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street staged another record-breaking session after cooling US inflation data spurred optimism that the Federal Reserve was staying on course to cut interest rates going forward.
“As a result, all three major indices – Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite – touched record highs, although the US 10-year yield remains elevated at 4.003%,” he added.
Back home, on the FBM KLCI, Thong said he remains hopeful that positive developments will emerge from the ongoing Asean meeting. Hence, he expects the index to hover within the 1,610–1,620 range today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank advanced six sen to RM9.96, Public Bank improved three sen to RM4.25, CIMB Group gained nine sen to RM7.46, Tenaga Nasional added eight sen to RM13.30, while IHH Healthcare slipped two sen to RM8.31.
On the most active list, ACE Market debutant Insights Analytics surged 35.0 sen to 71 sen, Top Glove advanced 2.5 sen to 70 sen, Perak Transit added one sen to 34.5 sen, while TWL Holdings and Tanco added half-a-sen to three sen and 89 sen, respectively.
Top gainers include Malaysian Pacific Industries, which jumped 72.0 sen to RM30.70, Sam Engineering rose 19.0 sen to RM4.73, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and United Plantations gained 18.0 sen each to RM20.70 and RM24.18, respectively and Vstecs added 14 sen to RM4.04.
Top losers include Nestle, which fell 80 sen to RM107.20, Pecca Group slid five sen to RM1.31, Malayan Cement, Petronas Gas, and Manulife Holdings eased four sen to RM6.44, RM18.70, and RM2.06, respectively.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index added 78.51 points to 11,882.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 79.80 points to 12,226.49, the FBM ACE Index gained 36.23 points to 5,328.89, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 81.51 points to 12,152.51, and the FBM 70 Index improved 158.77 points to 17,329.76.
By sector, the Financial Services Index added 124.98 points to 18,329.62, the Plantation Index increased 48.40 points to 7,957.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.67 of-a-point to 172.58, and the Energy Index expanded 2.34 points to 793.66.