The presentation of Budget 2023 tomorrow is seen as a catalyst for investors to continue buying on the Bursa Malaysia counter.
Ulas Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's brisk buying activity ahead of the presentation of the national budget in addition to news of the election prompted the main index of the local exchange to close at a high of 1,420 yesterday.
In addition, news of oil production cuts by OPEC is expected to add buying interest to oil and energy stocks throughout the day.
As a result, the FTSE KLCI index (FBM KLCI) rose 3.34 points to 1,423.89 from Wednesday's close of 1,420.55 with a good opening of 4.20 points to 1,424.75.
In the broader market, gains at 127 offset losses at 80, while 197 counters were unchanged, 1,943 untraded and 7 suspended.
Total revenue at 177.53 million units worth RM44.06 million.
Heavyweight stocks saw Maybank and Group Holdings Bhd up 1 sen at RM8.71 and RM5.27, Public Bank Bhd added 3 sen at RM4.28 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained 5 sen at RM8.70 while IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM5 .85.
Active shares showed MMAG Holdings Bhd up 1 sen at 3.5 sen, Cosmos Technology International Bhd up 20.5 sen at 55.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd jumped 3.5 sen at 98 sen while MQ Technology Bhd remained at 3 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd was flat at 78.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM Emas added 20.49 points at 10,139.94, FBM 70 collected 13.83 points at 12,249.45, FBMT 100 advanced 20.34 points at 9,893.03, FBM Emas Shariah gained 12.53 points at 10,182.44 and FBM ACE fell 5.09 points at 4,729.18.
In terms of sectors, the Energy index added 10.20 points to 704.30, the Financial Services index jumped 40.23 points to 16,166.33, the Products and Services index rose 0.71 points to 174.66 while the Plantation index fell 16 points to 6,579.06.
Meanwhile, the strengthening of the dollar yesterday after the ADP employment data has pressured the ringgit to trade flat at 4.6295/6335 compared to closing at 4.6290/6315.
