Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher Following Positive Lead From Wall Street
Bursa Malaysia exhibited a positive start early in the day, buoyed by Wall Street's overnight gains, with the main index climbing and individual counters showing improvements.
Jordan Taylor
- 2024-01-08
- Updated 09:33 PM ET
(NewsNibs) - During the early trading session at 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood 4.43 points higher at 1,500.13, after opening at 1,497.17. Market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing losers 336 to 180, while 360 counters remained unchanged, amongst 1,343 untraded and 19 suspended counters. The trading volume reached a total of 605.61 million units valued at RM270.02 million. This upbeat commencement was in sync with the Nasdaq rising by 320 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending 217 points higher the prior Monday.
US and Asian Market Influences
The United States Treasury yields saw the 10-year mark hovering at around 4.027 percent. Meanwhile, in contrast to the upward trend in Malaysia and the U.S., the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong experienced a falloff, dropping by 311 points. Despite fluctuations in the broader market, forecasts remained optimistic about continual interest from foreign funds in Malaysian equities, with anticipation that the FBM KLCI would oscillate within the 1,490-1,500 points band.
Stock Performances
Individual stock movements were observed in Maybank, Public Bank, and CIMB, which rose by three sen to RM9.09, by one sen to RM4.37, and by two sen to RM6.05 respectively. Utilities giants Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals maintained their positions, closing unchanged at RM10.54 and RM7.22 respectively. Moreover, shares of Minetech Resources, TWL Holdings, and AHB Holdings saw marginal increases, while Sarawak Consolidated rose notably by 3.5 sen to RM1.02. Amongst the sectoral indices, the FBM 70, FBMT 100, FBM Emas Shariah, FBM Emas, and FBM ACE indices all witnessed gains, whereas the Energy Index experienced a marginal decline.
Sectoral Overview
The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up slightly to 178.70. The Financial Services Index saw a substantial rise, gaining 70.18 points to 16,739.23, and the Plantation Index increased by 7.17 points to 7,072.90. The Property Index strengthened by 2.92 points to reach 925.52. In contrast, the Energy Index fell by 0.42 of-a-point, finalizing the session at 848.58.
The positive economic indicators from Wall Street have played a pivotal role in boosting investor confidence in Malaysian equities, as reflected in the day's trading. Despite certain sectors like energy showing a slight downturn, the general market trend points to sustained investor interest, particularly from foreign funds. The stability of premier blue-chip stocks suggests a steady undertone to the market amid the regular ebb and flow.
