Bursa Malaysia began morning trading with a positive opening, recovering from yesterday's losses as investor appetite recovered as inflation data from the United States (US) fell far short of expectations.
At 9am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 10.19 points at 1,502.52.96 from Wednesday's close of 1,492.33.
The index opened up 5.48 points at 1,497.81.
In the broader market, gainers at 257 outnumbered losers at 71, while 172 counters were unchanged, 1,783 untraded and 12 suspended.
Total revenue at 159.82 million units worth RM70.04 million.
Rakuten Trade Vice President Thong Pak Leng commented, the reading of US inflation data that fell gave relief to the market that the Federal Reserve (Fed) might act less aggressively after this.
Based on these factors, the KLCI is expected to be in the range of 1,495-1,520 today with technology-themed stocks being the chase for investors given the good overnight performance of the Nasdaq.
The streak saw 2/3 of the 30 counters record gains, led by Inari Amertron Bhd which jumped 8 sen to RM2.90 while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd reached 17 sen to RM8.89.
Heavyweight stocks saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) add 5 sen to RM8.95, Public Bank Bhd gained 4 sen to RM4.67, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd jumped 3 sen to RM5.33 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) also gained 3 sen at RM8.46 while IHH Healthcare Bhd remained at RM6.42.
Active shares saw G3 Global Bhd jump 0.5 sen to 4 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) gained 2 sen to 89 sen, SFP Tech Holdings Bhd rose 4 sen to 98 sen and Infoline Tec Group Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 38 sen while Sapura Energy Bhd remained at 5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas index rose 78.41 points at 10,640.15, the FBMT 100 index added 74.39 points at 10,388.56, the FBM Emas Shariah index advanced 83.91 points at 10,753.21, the FBM 70 jumped 106.53 points at 12,658.63 and the FBM ACE gained 35.44 points at 4,867.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services index reached 97.92 points at 16,747.53, the Energy index expanded 4.7 points at 651.34, the Products and Services index added 2.48 points at 183.43 and the Plantation index jumped 23.36 points at 7,147.23.
