Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, reflecting Wall Street's strong finish last week, influenced by recent developments regarding United States tariffs. The market saw the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gaining 4.45 points to reach 1,757.28, compared to the previous Friday's closing at 1,752.83. The index had initially opened with an increase of 4.14 points at 1,756.97.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market displayed a positive sentiment with 266 gainers outpacing 119 losers, while 308 counters remained unchanged. Additionally, 2,087 counters were untraded, and 24 were suspended. The market turnover recorded was 155.05 million shares valued at RM109.56 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street's rise followed a US Supreme Court decision that overturned most of President Donald Trump's tariffs. This move is expected to relieve companies facing higher costs and potentially ease inflation concerns. In reaction to the ruling, Trump announced a new 15 percent global tariff to be implemented 'almost immediately', introducing new uncertainties in global trade.
Thong mentioned that the local market's undertone remains stable, with expectations for the index to fluctuate between 1,750 and 1,760 points throughout the day.
Among the index heavyweights, Maybank remained steady at RM12.22, Public Bank increased by four sen to RM5.07, CIMB decreased by two sen to RM8.47, Tenaga Nasional dropped four sen to RM14.12, and IHH Healthcare rose by 24 sen to RM9.08.
On the most active list, VS Industry rose by half-a-sen to 39.5 sen, Advance Synergy increased by one sen to 8.5 sen, while Velesto, Astro Malaysia, and Pharmaniaga remained unchanged at 31.5 sen, 10 sen, and 31 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose RM1.00 to RM110.70, LPI Capital, which increased by 22 sen to RM15.48, Allianz, which went up by 20 sen to RM22.86, Vstecs, which added 14 sen to RM4.14, and IOI Properties, which climbed 12 sen to RM3.57.
In contrast, top losers included Press Metal, which fell by 17 sen to RM7.53, Petronas Dagangan, which decreased by 12 sen to RM20.84, QL Resources, which declined by 11 sen to RM3.92, Fraser and Neave, which slipped by 10 sen to RM33.04, and Sunway Bhd, which eased by six sen to RM5.74.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 16.93 points to 12,684.82, the FBM Emas Index rose by 18.43 points to 12,865.21, the FBM 70 Index climbed by 72.61 points to 17,818.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 16.34 points to 12,384.63, and the FBM ACE Index edged up by 1.95 points to 4,824.07.
By sector, the Financial Services Index saw an increase of 44.05 points to 21,659.72, while the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped by 1.11 points to 176.95. The Energy Index fell by 1.09 points to 774.79, and the Plantation Index decreased by 2.23 points to 8,417.75.