Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning, supported by buying interest in several counters of selected consumer products and services amid cautious Asian market sentiment.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) key index rose 16.10 points to 1,591.41 from 1,575.31 when it closed on Tuesday afternoon.
Bernama reported that the key index opened 9.75 points higher at 1,585.06.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 351 to 192 while 336 counters were unchanged, 1,274 untraded and 61 others suspended.
Turnover was 434.04 million units worth RM340.17 million.
According to Malacca Securities in a note today, the firm expects some cheap stock buying activities to emerge in the near future especially ahead of the financial results reporting season this February.
Taking cues from other regional exchanges, the FBM KLCI declined yesterday due to massive sales in heavyweights and related to Petronas.
"There are growing concerns about the continued increase in Covid-19 cases and this may lead to the extension of the Movement Control Order (PKP).
"As such, this situation could limit the potential for a major index increase in the near future until the launch of the vaccine," said Malacca Securities.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 9.0 sen to RM7.91, Public Bank added 11 sen to RM4.51, Petronas Chemicals rose 4.0 sen to RM6.79, TNB expanded 18 sen to RM9.88 while Top Glove was higher at 7.0 sen to RM6.27.
The healthiest shares, Mestron gained half-a-sen to 23 sen, Iris Corp added 1.5 sen to 38.5 sen while DNeX and Mega Sun City rose 1.0 sen to 29 sen and 14.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 101.92 points to 11,500.81, the FBMT 100 Index soared 102.58 points to 11,241.10 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index rose 92.26 points to 12,924.91.
FBM 70 was 91.30 points higher at 14,768.70 while FBM ACE was down 25.71 points to 10,772.89.
By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 153.44 points to 14,850.89, the Plantation Index rose 4.10 points to 7,188.45 and the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.22 points to 171.68.
