KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Bursa Malaysia continued its positive tone from last Friday (Jan 12), opening higher on Monday despite Wall Street's flattish tone last week.

The US stock market closed barely changed as mixed bank earnings offset cooler-than-expected inflation news that buoyed hopes for interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, a dealer said.

At 9.09am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.17 points to 1,492.51 from last Friday's close of 1,487.34.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.94 of-a-point better at 1,488.28.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 251 to 159, while 284 counters were unchanged, 1,525 untraded and 20 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 387.94 million units worth RM152.36 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed mixed last Friday following weaker-than-expected bank earnings amid a lower inflation reading.

While the US producer price index fell in December, earnings from some prominent banks came in short, hence the 118 points decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while higher expectations of a rate cut saw the US Treasury 10-year yield dipping to 3.94%.

Back home, the FBM KLCI closed higher last Friday due to bargain-hunting activities.

“We expect the accumulation of stocks to persist after the intermittent correction the last few days and see the index hover within the 1,485-1,495 range, with 1,500 being the psychological resistance level," he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd added three sen to RM4.33, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose four sen to RM5.96, Tenaga Nasional Bhd gained two sen to RM10.30 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd edged up one sen to RM6.93, while Malayan Banking Bhd eased two sen to RM9.04.

Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd inched up half-a-sen to two sen and Ekovest Bhd put on two sen to 61 sen, while SC Estate Builder Bhd slid half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, Minetech Resources Bhd declined half-a-sen to 19 sen and Fast Energy Holdings Bhd decreased half-a-sen to 15.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 33.72 points to 11,150.57, the FBM 70 Index advanced 39.23 points to 15,203.04, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 34.93 points to 10,796.81, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 24.8 points to 11,273.78 and the FBM ACE Index added 8.63 points to 5,390.06.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.56 points better at 176.42, the Financial Services Index bagged 41.42 points to 16,591.46, the Energy Index improved 0.46 of-a-point to 866.17, the Plantation Index climbed 10.49 points to 7,112.42 and the Property Index added 4.69 points to 897.48.