Bursa Malaysia started today with a bit strong after yesterday's massive sell-off that attracted stock buying activity at low prices.
Investor interest was boosted by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement on the RM15 billion Economic and People Protection Protection Package (PERMAI) yesterday.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) market indicator rose 3.66 points to 1,613.18 with the increase seen almost overall.
Bernama reported that the index opened 1.54 points to 1,611.06 from 1,609.52 when it closed yesterday.
In the overall market, gainers outnumbered losers by 247 to 182, while 287 counters were unchanged, 1,380 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 436.26 million units worth RM162.14 million.
In a note today, Public Bank Investment Research said the local bourse was also boosted by the fact that European equity markets were high yesterday, following strong Chinese economic data competing with concerns about a double recession in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European zone.
"China's market was boosted by news that the world's second-largest economy grew 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, a faster pace than before the pandemic, and exceeded expectations," according to the research firm.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities in a note said the Prime Minister's announcement of the RM15 billion PERMAI package is expected to boost the market, although investor sentiment may remain cautious ahead of the Bank Negara Malaysia Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 10 sen to RM8.18, Public Bank added 12 sen to RM21.10, while PetChem was flat at RM7.28.
Energy declined two sen to RM10.06 and Top Glove declined three sen to RM6.31.
Of the active stocks, Vsolar was flat at four sen, while ARB, KTG and Kanger rose one sen to 28.5 sen, 28 sen and 15.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 25.52 points to 11,654.48, the FBMT 100 Index rose 23.25 points to 11,379.06, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 15.05 points to 13,186.85.
FBM 70 rose 20.4 points to 14,888.46 and FBM ACE rose 55.52 points to 10,943.89.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 79.39 points to 14,881.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.31 points to 178.55 and the Plantation Index rose 51.27 points to 7,350.58.
