KUALA LUMPUR (March 21): Bursa Malaysia staged a rebound in early trade on Tuesday (March 21) amid improved buying sentiment, in line with the positive Wall Street performance overnight.

At 9.53am, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 4.16 points to 1,405.97 from Monday's close of 1,401.81.

The market bellwether opened 5.35 points higher at 1,407.16. 

In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 319 to 204, while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,442 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 921.99 million units, worth RM328.37 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said sentiment improved on Wall Street following the rescue deal for Credit Suisse, while investors may shift their focus to the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday. 

“We believe the local bourse will remain sideways until more clues are given after the conclusion of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting,” it said in a research note on Tuesday.

Regarding the rebound on Wall Street, Malacca Securities said the technology sector may see a mild rebound following Nasdaq’s gains.

"Also, we expect investors to look for defensive stocks within the gold, consumer staples, and telecommunications sectors, amid the uncertain global environment,” it added.

Of the Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) advanced five sen to RM8.39, Public Bank Bhd gained three sen to RM3.98, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased six sen to RM5.21, IHH Healthcare Bhd added two sen to RM5.86, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) slipped seven sen to RM6.93, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) declined five sen to RM9.42.

Among actives, Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and Yew Lee Pacific Group Bhd improved one sen each to 65.5 sen and 35 sen respectively, Green Packet Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd were flat at 5.5 sen and 4.5 sen respectively, and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd and Niche Capital Emas Holdings Bhd both eased half-a-sen to 13.5 sen and 17.0 sen respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 26.93 points to 10,276.04, the FBMT 100 Index firmed 25.30 points to 9,972.81, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index grew 6.58 points to 10,592.89.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 16.28 points to 13,228.17, and the FBM ACE Index bagged 39.71 points to 5,258.44.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded by 84.58 points to 15,538.60, the Plantation Index fell 8.63 points to 6,771.84, the Energy Index added 8.96 points to 794.17, and the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.14 of-a-point to 167.68.