Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday's decline to open higher overall following lower stock buying activity following improved market sentiment.
At 9.22am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) market index rose 1.86 points to 1,574.1 from 1,572.24 at the close on Monday.
According to Bernama, the index opened 0.68 points lower at 1,571.56.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers by 347 to 180, while 315 counters were unchanged, 1,361 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 707.93 million units worth RM274.2 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said buying activity on low-priced shares is expected to boost sentiment on the local bourse following the strong overnight recovery on Wall Street, as well as the gradual decline in the daily Covid-19 case.
"We believe market participants will focus on stocks that are recovering based on rising vaccination rates in Malaysia," the brokerage firm said in a research note today.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose close to US $ 75 a barrel due to the lower US dollar while crude palm oil prices continued to decline.
As for the focus sectors, Malacca Securities said, tracking the upward movement on the Nasdaq, investors are expected to continue looking for local technology stocks.
In addition, the firm added, the oil and gas sector is expected to attract buying interest due to stronger oil prices.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and PChem, added one sen each to RM8.19, RM4.19 and RM7.96, respectively, Tenaga rose four sen to RM10.04, while IHH declined nine sen to RM5.67.
Digi added eight sen to RM4.40 and Axiata rose two sen to RM4.00 following a deal signed yesterday between the two telecom giants for a merger.
Among active stocks, MMAG declined half -a -sen to 17.5 sen, Greenyield rose two sen to 33.5 sen, M3TECH added one sen to seven sen, while VSolar was flat at 1.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 17.29 points to 11,490.05, the FBMT 100 Index added 15.13 points to 11,182.44, the FBM ACE rose 61.43 points to 7,620.04, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 17.89 points to 12,633.09 and the FBM 70 added 27.61 points to 14,939.65.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 2.08 points to 15,248.08, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.86 points to 189.98, however, the Plantation Index declined 9.45 points to 6,587.87.
