Bursa Malaysia opened higher early in the morning this morning, hitting 1,600 after Wall Street shares soared last Friday with the S&P 500 Composite Index and Nasdaq set a record at the close of trading.
At 9.12am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index rose 12.14 points to 1,611.56 from 1,599.42 when it closed last Thursday.
Bernama reported that at the opening, the index opened 7.58 points higher at 1,607.00.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 453 to 174 while 366 counters were unchanged, 1,168 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover was 771.39 million units worth RM370.47 million.
Last Friday, the S&P 500 index strengthened 0.47%, the Dow Jones rose 0.09% and the Nasdaq was 0.5% higher.
In a statement today, Public Investment Bank said investors were considering the prospect of increased fiscal stimulus as well as the possibility of higher inflation.
"US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday told finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven (G7) countries to fully support the fiscal plan to enhance a lasting economic recovery," he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose four sen to RM8.02, PChem rose 11 sen to RM7.61, TM rose 16 sen to RM6.76, Tenaga rose 10 sen to RM10.16 and Axiata strengthened five sen to RM3. 48.
Strongest stocks, Nexchange Trading rose 2.5 sen to 45.5 sen, Techna-X rose 1.5 sen to 15 sen, Luster Industries and Velesto added half-a-sen to 23 sen and 14 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 84.75 points to 11,746.57, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 79.93 points to 11,459.97 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index increased 103.69 points to 13,223.94.
FBM 70 was up 82.46 points to 15,354.11 and FBM ACE was up 13.00 points to 10,896.23.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 74.37 points to 15,112.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.4 points to 181.97 and the Plantation Index expanded 43.64 points to 7,189.33.
