Bursa Malaysia maintained its bullish momentum at the close to open well after tracking positive performance in the Wall Street market following a string of FOMC meeting results that met investors' expectations.
At 9am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 10.95 points at 1,481.66 from Wednesday's close of 1,470.71.
The index opened up 1.68 points at 1,472.39.
In the broader market, gainers at 347 outnumbered losers at 101, while 229 counters were unchanged, 1,621 untraded and 66 suspended.
Total revenue at 359.74 million units worth RM157.65 million.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd's note, Wall Street's positive rally spilled over to the local exchange and the local market is expected to remain 'green' today.
According to the firm, the rebound that occurred on the equity market was a string of comments by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell that eased investors' concerns about the prospect of rate hikes.
In the meantime, the firm predicts the technology sector will be in focus based on the encouraging performance of the Nasdaq.
Heavyweight stocks saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) reach 1 sen at RM8.81, Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added 8 sen at RM4.68 and RM8.72, IHH Healthcare Bhd jumped 5 sen at RM6.42 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd advanced 2 sen to RM5.24.
Active stocks showed Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd and Techna-X Bhd jumped 0.5 sen to 12.5 sen and 4.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) advanced 1 sen to 79.5 sen, Metronic Global Bhd rose 2 sen to 15 sen and SFP Tech Holdings Bhd added 5 cents at 72.5 cents.
On the index board, FBM Emas index collected 83.17 points at 10,513.15, FBM Emas Shariah index gained 78.20 points at 10,573.11, FBMT 100 index gained 82.28 points at 10,267.61, FBM ACE reached 55.40 points at 4,834.60 and FBM 70 jumped 126.65 points at 12,605.
In terms of sectors, the Plantation index gained 19.75 points at 6,866.05, the Financial Services index jumped 136.52 points at 16,692.54, the Products and Services index gained 1.46 points at 180.00 and the Energy index gained 9.53 points at 654.73.
