The Malaysian stock exchange opened slightly higher following gains in US markets overnight.
Wall Street closed on a positive note even though the April Retail Price Index (PPI) data was higher than expected because traders preferred to focus on the CPI report which will be released tonight.
At precisely 2.30 midday, the FBM KLCI declined by 0.25 points, namely 0.02% at 1,605.63 compared to its closing overnight at 1,605.88.
It opened 0.13 points lower at 1,605.75.
In the broader market, profit counters outnumbered loss counters 229 to 141. Meanwhile, 327 counters were unchanged, 1,671 were untraded and another 23 were suspended.
The number of merchandise was 311.67 million units valued at RM149.0 million.
Tradeview Capital Sdn Bhd fund manager Neoh Jia Man said less concern about persistent inflation in the US is boosting the technology sector's performance.
They believe investors will place a high emphasis on potential recipients of US import tariffs on China such as glove manufacturers.
Therefore, the index is expected to fluctuate in the range between 1,600 and 1,610 throughout today.
Among high-priced stocks, Maybank fell two sen to RM9.86, Public Bank remained unchanged at RM4.17, CIMB rose two sen to RM6.81, TNB remained unchanged at RM12.44 and Petronas Chemicals fell three sen to RM6.94 .
Sin-Kung Logistics emerged as the most active counter, rising half a sen to 13.5 sen, followed by Top Glove, which rose 11 sen to RM1.07. TWL remained unchanged at 2.5 sen and Jaks Resources fell half a sen to 12.5 sen.
The stock exchange has meanwhile approved MAHB's request for a suspension in the trading of all of the company's securities, effective from 9am to 5pm today, pending an important announcement.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index rose 27.37 points to 12,164.50, the FBMT 100 Index rose 27.27 points to 11,768.44 and the FBM Gold Shariah Index added 29.44 points to 12,361.78.
The FBM 70 Index jumped 135.32 points to 17,183.56 while the FBM ACE Index gained 10.09 points to 5,334.50.
In terms of sectors, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.29 points to 193.75 while the Financial Services Index decreased 4.94 points to 17,526.13, the Agriculture Index decreased 23.85 points to 7,410.74, and the Energy Index decreased 0.37 points to 985.50.
