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KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on the week’s first trading day, buoyed by Wall Street’s overnight gains ahead of tomorrow’s US presidential election.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.94 points to 1,613.92 from Friday’s close of 1,603.98.
The benchmark index initially gained 3.77 points at the opening, reaching 1,607.75.
Across the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 195 to 144, while 320 counters were unchanged, 1,742 remained untraded, and 30 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 178.76 million shares valued at RM103.08 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street closed firmer as traders shrugged off weak October jobs data, attributing it to temporary disruptions from hurricanes and strikes.
“Additionally, Nvidia is set to replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) next week, while the US 10-year yield jumped past 4.3%, ending at 4.386%, reflecting concerns over upcoming Federal Reserve rate decisions,” he added.
Thong said the FBM KLCI had managed to stay above the 1,600 threshold last week, dipping below briefly before bargain hunters supported it.
“Nonetheless, caution prevails as we enter a volatile week ahead of tomorrow’s US presidential election.
“We expect the index to move within the 1,595-1,605 range today,” he added.
The 2024 US presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, with vice-president Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party and former president Donald Trump for the Republican Party as the main candidates.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 8.0 sen to RM10.48, CIMB Group gained 13 sen to RM8.08, Tenaga Nasional climbed 14 sen to RM14.04, and IHH Healthcare added 4.0 sen to RM7.32.
Public Bank remained unchanged at RM4.46.
In actives, Cape EMS added 2.5 sen to 33.5 sen, Sorento Capital rose 2.0 sen to 39.5 sen, and Bahvest Resources gained 1.0 sen to 85 sen.
Meanwhile, Alpha IVF Group held at 35 sen, and Techna-X dropped 1.0 sen to 11 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 61.93 points to 12,190.27, FBMT 100 Index increased 62.88 points to 11,902.67, and FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 41.01 points to 12,143.45.
The FBM 70 Index gained 55.19 points to 17,734.12, and the FBM ACE Index added 8.74 points to 5,005.09.
By sector, the Financial Services Index surged 122.17 points to 19,126.93, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.35 of-a-point to 173.92, and the Energy Index added 4.29 points to 843.09.
Meanwhile, the Plantation Index fell 16.57 points to 7,439.80.