KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note on Friday (Dec 9), taking its cue from the positive Wall Street performance overnight.

At 9.18am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had gained 4.78 points to 1,470.71, from Thursday's closing at 1,465.93. The market bellwether opened 1.97 points higher at 1,467.90.     

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 246 versus 143, while 267 counters were unchanged, 1,599 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 485.12 million units worth RM142.49 million.

Following the positive performance of US equities, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd expects the key index in Malaysia to improve and hover in the 1,460-1,475 range on Friday.

“We noticed that the construction sector’s performance has been quite encouraging of late, which could be a precursor of a more positive news flow for contractors going forward,” it said in a research note.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) gained one sen to RM8.63 and Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.42, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased two sen to RM5.63, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) jumped 15 sen to RM9.30, and IHH Healthcare Bhd advanced five sen to RM5.90.

Meanwhile, Digi.Com Bhd stood at RM3.85, followed by Hong Leong Bank Bhd at RM20.44, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd at RM8.40. All three counters were flat.  

Of the actives, Sapura Energy Bhd gained half a sen to 4.5 sen and MQ Technology Bhd edged up half a sen to 5.5 sen, Icon Offshore Bhd rose one sen to nine sen and Infomina Bhd added 11 sen to RM1.20, while AHB Holdings Bhd (14 sen), Yew Lee Pacific Group Bhd (32 sen), Reservoir Link Energy Bhd (42 sen) and Ni Hsin Resources Bhd (15.5 sen) were all unchanged. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved by 33.08 points to 10,557.69, the FBMT 100 Index expanded by 32.55 points to 10,261.20, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 37.44 points to 10,726.71, the FBM 70 went up 37.81 points to 12,876.94, and the FBM ACE grew 26.51 points to 5,528.53.   

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index strengthened by 6.88 points to 6,739.67 and the Financial Services Index was 32.04 points higher at 16,451.86, while the Industrial Products and Services Index dwindled 0.08 of a point to 180.35, and the Energy Index lessened by 2.48 points to 772.63.