Bursa Malaysia recovered from losses recorded yesterday afternoon to open higher this morning, taking cues from the strong overnight performance of US stocks.
At 9.10am, the market benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.15 points to 1,582.05 from Thursday's close of 1,579.90.
According to Bernama, the key index opened 3.37 points better at 1,583.27.
Price movements in the market were positive with gainers outpacing losers 222 to 151 while 315 counters were unchanged, 1,473 untraded and 29 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 546.33 million units worth RM254.14 million.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in its research note, the US stock market rebounded as the Dow added 0.1% after US inflation data for May 2021 rose 5.0% year -on -year; the highest increase since August 2008 with the Federal Reserve (Fed) seeing the increase as temporary and arguing it unnecessary to reduce monetary stimulus in the near term.
"Despite soaring US inflation, Wall Street ended relatively high as investors saw rising consumer prices as a temporary effect before the industry reopened after movement restrictions.
"We expect positive sentiment on Wall Street, coupled with the increase in vaccination rates in the country and this could move local stocks to higher levels," he said.
Meanwhile, as oil prices continue to be above US $ 72 per barrel, the situation could benefit the oil and gas sector.
The research firm said the technology sector may move higher following the overnight rise in the Nasdaq Composite index.
"Additionally, investors may shift their focus to recovery-themed stocks amid rising vaccination rates," the firm said.
For heavyweights, Maybank and HLB rose two sen each to RM8.20 and RM18.86, Public Bank and PetChem both rose one sen to RM4.21 and RM8.10, while TNB added four sen to RM9 .97.
Among active stocks, Dagang Nexchange rose four sen to 89.5 sen, Vortex rose half -a -sen to 10.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik fell two sen to 62 sen.
For the highest gainer, MPI gained 78 sen to RM38.28, Nestle rose 40 sen to RM135.20 and Transocean jumped 26 sen to RM4.50.
MCOM was among the losers, declining 19 sen to 10 sen, followed by Widetech, down 14 sen to RM2.82 and HLIB down 11 sen to RM9.80.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index rose 22.10 points to 11,547.22, the FBMT 100 Index added 21.94 points to 11,232.40, and the FBM ACE gained 6.00 points to 7,660.11.
The FBM Emas Syariah Index rose 23.05 points to 12,692.04 and the FBM 70 strengthened 55.159 points to 14,980.41.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 27.61 points to 15,298.92, while the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.12 points to 192.52, and the Plantation Index rose 7.92 points to 6,771.32.
