KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Bursa Malaysia extended last Friday's uptrend today with gains almost across the board as bullish sentiment continued to spur buying interest.

At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.27 points or 0.35 per cent to 1,523.30 from Friday’s close of 1,518.03.   

The market bellwether opened 1.96 points higher at 1,519.99.

Market breadth was also positive with gainers outpacing losers 294 to 133, while 270 counters were unchanged, 1,511 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 350.29 million shares worth RM127.17 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the stability on the political scene following the appointment of the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, may give rise to positive sentiment, but risks remained due to the elevated COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.

Ismail was sworn in as the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia at Istana Negara on Saturday.

Meanwhile, investors are keeping an eye on Malaysia’s inflation rate for July, due to be announced on Wednesday.

Commodities-wise, crude palm oil is trading below the all-time-high zone, while Brent crude oil is trading below US$66 a barrel.

“Investors may pick up stocks in the technology sectors following the jump in Nasdaq on Friday.

“Besides, focus may remain on the recovery theme sectors such as construction, property, transportation and logistics, and consumer related,” it said in a note.

At Friday’s close, the US stock markets rebounded from the recent pullback, with the Dow adding 0.7 per cent on a broad base recovery as bargain-hunting activities took shape.

Today on the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank, CIMB and Sime Darby Plantation gained five sen each to RM8.17, RM4.69 and RM3.97, respectively.

Public Bank added two sen to RM3.94 and IOI was four sen higher at RM3.80, while Digi and Genting Malaysia inched up three sen to RM4.34 and RM2.81, respectively.

Meanwhile, Genting Bhd dropped three sen to RM4.71, while Top Glove and MR DIY eased one sen to RM3.79 and RM3.88, respectively.

Among the actives, Advance Synergy decreased 3.5 sen to 15.5 sen, MMAG increased two sen to 15 sen, Malayan United Industries erased one sen to 8.5 sen, and Avillion rose one sen to 19 sen.

 On the index board, the FBM Emas Index inched up 47.74 points to 11,115.70, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 45.35 points to 10,865.99, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lifted 48.58 points to 12,266.09, the FBM 70 went up 91.52 points to 14,690.37, and the FBM ACE was 79.24 points higher at 7,225.60.    

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index climbed 44.98 points to 6,461.36, the Financial Services Index rose 66.98 points to 14,909.85, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.60 of-a-point to 188.86.