KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Bursa Malaysia was slightly higher in early trade on Wednesday (Feb 8), as bargain-hunting emerged following Tuesday's sell-off, a dealer said.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen by two points to 1,478.38, from Tuesday's close at 1,476.38.

The key index opened at 1,476.39.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers surpassing losers 274 to 137, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,487 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 409.28 million units worth RM167.57 million.

In a research note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects bargain-hunting activities to emerge on Wednesday, in view of the upbeat Wall Street performance overnight, after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said inflation could be subsiding.

“We may see bargain-hunting activities emerging after the sharp fall on Tuesday, especially within the technology sector, in line with the rebound on Wall Street. 

“Meanwhile, the real estate investment trust and utility sectors may do well under the recovery theme," it said. 

On commodities, the brokerage noted that the Brent crude oil price had surged above the US$83 (RM356.94) per barrel level on the back of recovering demand from China’s reopening activities, while crude palm oil rebounded above RM3,900 per tonne as sentiments turned more positive, it said.

Hence, it anticipated the oil and gas sector to be attractive to investors amid the elevated crude oil price, adding that it expects the upcoming reporting season and the retabling of Budget 2023 to be on traders’ radars.

Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) at RM8.64, Public Bank Bhd at RM4.17 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd at RM9.40 had gained one sen each, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd edged up three sen to RM8.18 per share, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell three sen to RM5.55. 

As for the actives, MyEG Services Bhd improved three sen to 73 sen, Ta Win Holdings Bhd inched up half a sen to 8.5 sen, and Leform Bhd increased one sen to 24.5 sen, while Aemulus Holdings Bhd lost six sen to 39.5 sen, and Iris Corp Bhd was flat at 16.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was up by 22.71 points to 10,796.81, the FBMT 100 Index ticked up 19.23 points to 10,457.19, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 30.01 points to 11,127.51, the FBM 70 Index perked 47.09 points to 13,743.54, and the FBM ACE Index improved 32.58 points to 5,869.19.  

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.49 of a point to 190.72, the Energy Index bagged 15.20 points to 913.70, the Financial Services Index earned 18.53 points to 16,153.86, and the Plantation Index garnered 4.42 points to 6,930.37.