KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): The main index at Bursa Malaysia opened sharply lower Tuesday but pared some loses, dragged primarily by index-linked Top Glove Corp Bhd.

Top Glove yesterday confirmed that it will temporarily shut down 28 factories in Klang, Selangor following an insurgence of Covid-19 cases among its workers.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was down 4.95 points to 1,592.53.

The early decliners included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Top Glove, Gets Global Bhd, Vivocom International Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd and Guan Chong Bhd.

Top Glove fell 6.4% or 47 sen to RM6.88 with 7.39 million shares traded.

Bloomberg said U.S. equity futures pushed higher Tuesday after the triggering of a formal transition process to President-elect Joe Biden.

Asian stocks looked poised for gains, it said.

Rakuten Trade in its daily market report said as the world is bracing for more positive vaccine news, stock markets are all firmly eyeing at a recovery mode with Wall Street as no exception.

It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by more than 300 points to close above the 29,500 mark again.

“As such regional markets are expected to continue with their uptrend today.

“With the Brent crude jumping to a 2 month high above the US$46/barrel, we reckon interest will shift to oil related companies as the FBM KLCI continues with its recovery as the 1,600 to be breached with the 1,610 forming as the next resistant level.

“Meanwhile, with crude palm oil remaining stubbornly above the RM3,500/metric tonnes, plantation stocks are expected to attract interests with year-to-date top 5 laggards namely TDM Bhd, Rimbunan Sawit Holdings Bhd, TSH Resources Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd and Boustead Plantation Bhd still offering reasonable value proposition,” it said.