At 9.55am the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 4.09 points at 1,535.28 from Friday's close of 1,531.73 after being driven by continued buying demand for selected heavyweights and in line with positive performance by several positive regional markets.
The index opened 2.48 points higher at 1,534.21.
However, the broader market saw losses outpacing gains with 349 to 320 while 387 counters were unchanged, 1,233 untraded and 27 suspended.
Total turnover at 912.31 units valued at RM475.94 million.
A note issued by Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the positive momentum was a result of the US stock market which saw investors welcoming the job market recovery as well as positive data on Covid-19 pills that hit the local bourse for the long term.
He added that the KLCI ended the week with a small gain due to low last -minute stock hunting activity but broader market sentiment was still rated negative.
So investors may pay more attention to companies that are fundamentally strong with earnings prospects before the next earnings season such as tech stocks.
Heavyweights saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gain 1 sen each at RM8.02 and RM5.08 while Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Chemicals (PetChem) and IHH Healthcare remained at RM 4.03, RM8.30 and RM6.58 each.
Active stocks saw Ecomate Holdings Bhd rise 17 sen at 50 sen, NWP Holdings Bhd added 3.5 sen at 35.5 sen and CSH Alliance Bhd gained 1 sen at 12.5 sen while Ta Win Holdings Bhd declined 0.5 sen at 14.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas index increased 13.24 points to 11,377.37, the FBMT 100 index increased 13.04 points to 11,003.97 and the FBM Emas Shariah index increased 12.65 points to 12,424.39 while the FBM ACE declined 54.25 points to 7,070.24 and the FBM 70 decreased 25.18 points to 15,067.34.
The Industrial Products and Services index increased 0.38 points to 209.94, the plantation index expanded 26.43 points to 6,753 and the financial services index drove 5.59 points to 15,172.47.
