KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its uptrend in the early trading session today, backed by the expectation of foreign fund inflows into the Malaysian equity market, according to an analyst.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.35 points to 1,670.17 from Friday's close of 1,668.82.
The benchmark index opened 1.09 points firmer at 1,669.91.
Across the broader market, gainers led losers 229 to 155, with 321 counters unchanged, 1,822 untraded and 30 suspended.
Turnover totalled 179.77 million units valued at RM128.79 million.
According to brokerage firm, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, the increasing interest in emerging markets could boost foreign investments in local equities.
The firm also expects investors to stake their position in the small-cap and lower-liner stocks, which were significantly oversold in recent weeks.
"Additionally, we believe a strong ringgit will benefit domestic sectors such as construction, consumer, utilities, financials, and automotive.
"We also foresee more trading opportunities in the property sector, particularly revolving around data centre development and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone," it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.62, CIMB increased one sen to RM8.45 and Tenaga Nasional improved six sen to RM14.70, while Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.69 and IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM7.07.
As for the active counters, Iskandar Waterfront City gained 3.5 sen to 65.5 sen, Ekovest bagged 1.5 sen to 40 sen and Velesto Energy inched up half-a-sen to 20 sen, while Capital A and MQ Technology climbed two sen to 91 sen and 12 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded by 17.31 points to 12,556.06, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 10.43 points to 12,422.90, the FBMT 100 Index went up 15.92 points to 12,247.13, and the FBM 70 Index rose 45.74 points to 17,987.64, while the FBM ACE Index eased 0.5 of-a-point to 5,202.33.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 23.50 points to 19,712.31, and the Plantation Index was 5.68 points higher at 7,182.33.
However, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.28 of-a-point to 178.56 and the Energy Index slipped 1.72 points to 875.
-- BERNAMA
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