The Bursa Malaysia trading session showed an extension of profits earned yesterday to open higher today as a result of support in the banking sector.
At 9am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 2.78 points at 1,443.59 from Tuesday's close of 1,440.81.
The index opened 1.76 points strong at 1,442.57.
On the broader market, losers at 234 outpaced gainers at 187, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,561 untraded and 7 suspended.
Total turnover at 353.47 million units worth RM157.75 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng in his note expects the buying momentum to remain but may be limited by the decline in crude palm oil prices.
As a result, the firm forecast the KLCI to hover in the range of 1,430-1,450 today.
Meanwhile, today's focus will also be on the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee meeting and the rate hike decision.
Heavyweights saw Public Bank hit 5 sen at RM4.46, CIMB rose 6 sen at RM5.11, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added 3 sen at RM8.64 and IHH Healthcare Bhd jumped 2 sen at RM6.42.
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost 14 sen to RM8.98, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell 3 sen to RM7.99 and Hong Leong Bank Bhd was down 20 sen at RM20.42.
Active stocks saw Ekovest Bhd rise 1 sen at 41.5 sen, Vinvest Capital Holdings Bhd added 1.5 sen at 19 sen, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and Datasonic Group Bhd jumped 0.5 sen at 8.5 sen and 45.5 sen respectively.
Sapura Energy Bhd was flat at 4.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd was down 7 sen at 93 sen and KNM Group Bhd fell 0.5 sen at 12 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas index collected 10.90 points at 10,254.41, the FBMT 100 index drove 13.70 points at 10,007.70 and FBM ACE added 15.26 points at 4,662.23 while the FBM Emas Shariah index decreased 15.22 points at 10,350.91 and FBM 70 declined 5.77 points at 12,301.79.
In terms of sector, the Financial Services index expanded 67.45 points at 16,151.63, the Products and Services Industry index weakened 1.65 points at 179.30 and the Plantation index decreased 4.87 points at 6,810.51.
