KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday's gains to open higher today amid positive regional peers' performance, driven by continued buying interest in energy and transportation and logistics stocks, a dealer said.

At 9.06 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.68 of a point to 1,442.80 from Monday's close of 1,442.12.

The market bellwether opened 5.0 points firmer at 1,447.12.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 162 to 96, while 218 counters were unchanged, 1,839 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 168.82 million units worth RM43.16 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng reckoned the local bourse would move in the 1,435-1,450 range amid heightened regional market volatility ahead of the United States (US) mid-term election 2022 outcome.

Nevertheless, he also noted that Wall Street closed higher as focus shifted to politics with the US mid-terms today following a choppy session.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 424 points higher while the Nasdaq gained 89 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher to almost the 4.22 per cent level," he told Bernama.

Back home, he said the oil and gas counter might see some headwinds today as crude oil prices eased, with Brent crude ending below US$98 per barrel, on news that China would continue with its COVID-19 containment strategy.

Among heavyweight stocks, Dialog Group was unchanged at RM2.07, Petronas Gas added 20 sen to RM17.20, Press Metal Aluminium gained three sen to RM4.43, Axiata rose two sen to RM2.88, and Hong Leong climbed eight sen to RM20.68.  

Among the actives, Advance Synergy and Zen Tech stayed flat at nine sen and three sen, respectively, while Velesto Energy and Bina Puri improved half-a-sen to 13.5 sen and three sen, respectively, and EA Holdings eased half-a-sen to one sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 1.59 points to 10,246.48 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lifted 9.56 points to 10,371.42, while the FBM 70 shrank 21.19 points to 12,172.14, the FBMT 100 Index inched down 0.41 of a point to 9,978.62 and the FBM ACE lost 21.71 points to 4,928.12. 

Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 4.54 points stronger at 732.66, the Transportation and Logistics Index pushed up 5.04 points to 858.31, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.35 of a point to 174.66 and the Plantation Index added 32.20 points to 6,857.19.

However, the Financial Services Index slid 4.67 points to 16,097.47.