Bursa opens higher, tracking firmer Wall Street cues

Bursa Malaysia began the trading day higher on Tuesday, mirroring the stronger overnight performance of Wall Street. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index opened at 1,611.51, a 0.45% increase from Monday's closing of 1,604.36. The index had previously opened 2.98 points higher at 1,607.34. The broader market favored gainers, with 320 outperforming and 83 underperforming, while 224 stayed unchanged.

A total of 2,266 stocks were untraded, and 52 were suspended. Turnover reached 170.67 million units, valued at RM82.40 million. Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade, attributed Wall Street's rebound to traders anticipating a series of corporate earnings reports in the coming days. However, the domestic FBM KLCI faced continued foreign selling.

Pak Leng noted that weak buying interest persisted, alongside elevated crude oil prices at US$115 per barrel. With the absence of fresh catalysts, the index was expected to trade within a narrow band of 1,600 to 1,610 that day. Heavyweight stocks such as Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, Tenaga Nasional, and IHH Healthcare saw their shares rise, while Dataprep, Matang, and Axteria remained flat.

Malaysian Pacific Industries led the top gainers, while ViTrox Corporation and UMS Integration were among the top winners. On the downside, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Coastal Contracts were among the biggest losers. The FBM Emas Index climbed 55.22 points to 12,032.22, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 53.80 points to 11,828.74, and the FBM Mid 70 Index increased 84.27 points to 17,347.81.