KUALA LUMPUR (May 11): Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in early trade on Wednesday (May 11), driven by renewed buying interest amid cautious sentiment arising from Wall Street’s performance, a dealer said.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen 2.45 points to 1,557.03 from Tuesday’s close at 1,554.58.

The index opened 0.90 of a point higher at 1,555.48.

On the broader market, however, losers surpassed gainers 210 to 152, while 250 counters were unchanged, 1,631 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 310.77 million shares worth RM111.02 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors are expected to continue buying the dip ahead of the earnings season despite volatility on Wall Street overnight.

"Overall market sentiment may be tested by concerns over the impact of Cukai Makmur (the prosperity tax) on corporate results and the upcoming Bank Negara Malaysia’s interest rate decision due later today (Wednesday)," it said.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added four sen to RM9.40, Public Bank Bhd was one sen higher at RM4.65 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained two sen to RM9.91, while IHH Healthcare Bhd lost two sen to RM6.41.

Of the actives, CSH Alliance Bhd inched up one sen to 12.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd fell 1.5 sen to six sen, Techna-X Bhd slid half a sen to 11 sen and Bumi Armada Bhd gave up one sen to 41 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 5.37 points to 11,115.83, the FBMT 100 Index gained 6.79 points to 10,794.28 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 0.19 of a point higher at 11,548.73, while FBM ACE shed 23.51 points to 5,349.57 and FBM 70 dipped 33.40 points to 13,267.57.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 27.87 points to 16,688.31, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.03 of a point lower at 197.13, and the Plantation Index added 34.15 points to 8,180.25.