KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 9): Bursa Malaysia rebounded after two consecutive days of losses as bargain hunting emerged on Tuesday morning (Aug 9), with buying mostly spotted among the heavyweights, led by Public Bank Bhd.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI had gained 3.15 points to 1,499.18, from 1,496.03 at Monday's close.

The benchmark index opened 2.49 points higher at 1,498.52.

Public Bank lifted the composite index by 1.32 points, after rising four sen to RM4.68, with 383,800 shares transacted.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 110 to 92, while 201 counters were unchanged, 1,870 untraded, and eight others suspended.

Turnover stood at 152.39 million units worth RM36.45 million.

Rakuten Trade vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said he expects the KLCI to consolidate within the 1,490-1,500 range on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, he noted that crude palm oil (CPO) had remained on an uptrend and ended at RM4,070 per tonne, tracking an upswing in the soybean oil price.

“If this continues, we expect buying interest in plantation stocks to emerge, as the prevailing weak ringgit is also a catalyst for the CPO price,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) bagged two sen to RM8.90, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added one sen to RM8.74, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) rose three sen to RM8.38, while IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM6.41, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was also flat at RM5.28.

Of the actives, G3 Global Bhd perked 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, BIG Industries Bhd gained five sen to 81 sen, Olympia Industries Bhd was one sen higher at eight sen, and Top Glove added one sen to 99.5 sen, while Ho Wah Genting Bhd slid half a sen to 14.5 sen, and Hextar Global Bhd slipped one sen to 35 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 18.95 points to 10,642.53, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 17.77 points to 10,389.60, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 4.14 points to 10,771.23, and the FBM 70 edged up 5.36 points to 12,757.19.

However, the FBM ACE shed three points to 4,852.66.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 50.9 points to 16,703.68, and the Energy Index added 1.78 points to 654.31, while the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 0.05 of a point to 182.58, and the Plantation Index erased 13.72 points to 7,107.41.