Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning although the global equity market was relatively sluggish while Wall Street's overnight performance was mixed.
At 9.06am, the benchmark index of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) strengthened 1.73 points to 1,597.02 from 1,595.29 when it closed yesterday afternoon.
Bernama reported that, when opened, the key index rose 4.02 points higher at 1,599.31.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 315 to 221 while 325 counters were unchanged, 1,316 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover was 671.38 million units worth RM232.03 million.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index fell 0.03%, the Dow Jones was up 0.29% and the Nasdaq was down 0.58%.
According to Public Investment Bank in its research note, the global equity market declined yesterday after recording the highest rise in the previous session.
This follows the action of investors to sell shares of technology-related companies while the prospect of rising inflation may curb the global economic recovery.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined four sen to RM8.05 and Top Glove declined five sen to RM6.14.
Meanwhile, Public Bank rose one sen to RM4.20, PChem strengthened two sen to RM7.55 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM9.94.
The healthiest stocks, Alam Maritim, Sapura Energy and Velesto Energy rose one sen to 10.5 sen, 16 sen and 17.5 sen respectively while TA Win added three sen to 25 sen and Bumi Armada rose two sen to 40 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 22.26 points to 11,705.61, the FBMT 100 Index rose 16.53 points to 11,385.94 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index added 34.21 points to 13,152.46.
FBM 70 added 38.43 points to 15,368.5 while FBM ACE decreased 14.17 points to 11,252.39.
By sector, the Financial Services Index fell 13.84 points to 15,081.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.2 points to 182.78 and the Plantation Index rose 22.56 points to 7,132.26.
