KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday, supported by buying in selected heavyweights despite cautious sentiment following Wall Street's weaker overnight performance.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.82 points to 1,614.11 from Thursday's close of 1,612.29, after opening 1.40 points firmer at 1,613.69.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 239 to 129, while 311 counters remained unchanged, 2,003 were untraded, and 18 suspended.
Turnover stood at 172.58 million shares worth RM107.37 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI remained well supported at current levels.
"The benchmark index closed marginally higher yesterday despite persistent foreign selling. Overall, the local bourse is expected to hover within the 1,610–1,620 range today ahead of another long weekend," he told Bernama.
Thong noted that Wall Street closed broadly lower overnight amid renewed concerns over regional banks and fears of rising bad loans, signalling potential challenges in the banking sector.
Among heavyweights, Maybank edged up one sen to RM9.93, Tenaga Nasional rose four sen to RM13.22, and IHH Healthcare gained seven sen to RM8.11. Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.21, while CIMB Group was unchanged at RM7.34.
In active trading, Salutica advanced five sen to 25.5 sen, L&P Global added two sen to 15.5 sen, Propel Global rose 1.5 sen to nine sen, and Niche Capital Emas inched up one sen to 15 sen. Dagang Nexchange was flat at 28 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which climbed 90 sen to RM105.60, Tomei Consolidated up 14 sen to RM2.12, Gas Malaysia and PGF Capital adding nine sen each to RM4.60 and RM1.84, and Sunway Construction up six sen to RM6.05.
Among the top losers, Petronas Gas fell 20 sen to RM18.80, Malaysian Pacific Industries declined 14 sen to RM29.46, and Frontken eased 10 sen to RM4.68. MI Technovation and Genting Bhd lost six sen each to RM2.89 and RM3.41, respectively.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index added 2.19 points to 11,806.02, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 0.39 of-a-point to 12,162.19, and the FBM ACE Index gained 4.28 points to 5,380.04. The FBM Emas Index slipped 1.33 points to 12,080.72, while the FBM 70 Index decreased 45.19 points to 17,158.36.
By sector, the Financial Services Index added 4.03 points to 18,226.44, and the Plantation Index rose 11.26 points to 7,872.49. The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.02 of-a-point to 173.61, and the Energy Index fell 2.52 points to 793.04.