Malaysian Stock Market Opens Higher

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) opened higher on Monday in line with the upbeat overnight performance of Wall Street last Friday, dealers said. At 9.05 am, the FBM KLCI stood at 1,709.73, up 1.35 points, from Friday's close of 1,708.38. The index opened 1.79 points easier at 1,706.59. Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 174 to 102 while 200 counters remained unchanged, 1,219 untraded and 14 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 154.5 million shares worth RM48.83 million. Public Investment Bank Bhd, said in a note, that the S&P 500 index closed 1.2 points better at 2,383.12. Meanwhile, it said the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 9.53 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,870.75, ending the week 0.4 per cent higher. "The FBM KLCI is set to trade within a narrow range today after Wall Street adopted a cautious tone last Friday while the dollar fell. "Treasuries rallied even as participants digested a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen which heightened expectations that the US central bank would raise interest rates this month," it said. The FBM Emas Index rose 1.41 points to 12,059, the FBMT100 Index was down 1.61 points to 11,734.69 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 2.78 points to 12,495.98. The FBM 70 gained 39.62 points to 13,036.79 and the FBM Ace edged up 3.29 points to 4,706.97. Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 43.61 points lower at 8,050.9 and the Industrial Index improved 7.92 points to 3,244.37 while the Finance Index increased 2.13 points to 15,290.69. Of heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM8.74, Public Bank bagged six sen to RM19.94, Sime Darby was up three sen at RM9.13, Petronas Chemicals was up five sen to RM7.45 and IHH Healthcare improved two sen to RM5.91. TNB was flat at RM13.62 while CIMB and Axiata eased one sen each to RM5.21, and RM4.61, respectively. Of actives, Nexgram, BioAlpha, Dagang Nexchange earned half-a-sen each to five sen, 27 sen and 39.5 sen, respectively, while KNM Group and Sumatec were down half-a-sen each at 30 sen and seven sen, respectively. -- BERNAMA