KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower on Thursday but moved up thereafter.  

At 9.17am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.17 points to 1,541.59 from  Wednesday's close of 1,540.42. The benchmark index opened 0.58 points easier to 1,539.84.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 262 to 151, while 307 counters were unchanged, 1,644 untraded, and 21 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 304.63 million units worth RM145.51 million. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street closed on a weaker note overnight as traders took profit following a decent run in recent months amid prevailing uncertainties on interest rates, geopolitical tensions and the upcoming results season. The Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average declined 46 points while the Nasdaq slipped by 182 points despite the US 10-year yield easing lower to 4.589%.

"Back home, the FBM KLCI rebounded to the 1,540-mark attributed to broad-based buying. Nonetheless, we noticed the market undertone remains cautious as illustrated by the lower daily volume yesterday," he told Bernama. 

Thong reckons bargain-hunting may persist on Thursday, however, with trading activities expected to be lacklustre. Hence, he anticipates the index to hover within the 1,535-1,545 range. 

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank added three sen to RM9.63, CIMB gained one sen to RM6.54, and Tenaga Nasional climbed four sen to RM11.56. Public Bank was flat at RM4.15 while Petronas Chemicals was also flat at RM6.83.

As for the actives, Jaks Resources eased half a sen to 14 sen while Tanco Holdings similarly eased half a sen to 83.5 sen. Eversendai Corp put on 1.5 sen to 39 sen, RGB International inched up half a sen to 35.5 sen and Ingenieur Gudang was flat at 14.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 0.73 of a point to 11,576.71, the FBM ACE Index shed 14.43 points to 4,910.94  and the FBM 70 Index trimmed 34.94 points to 16,079.18.

The FBMT 100 Index edged up 0.02 of a point to 11,219.41 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 0.14 of a point to 11,757.45

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.01 of a point to 183.30, the Energy Index slipped 8.03 points to 951.14 and the Financial Services Index dropped 20.87 points to 17,086.62.

The Plantation Index gave up 4.98 points to 7,352.90.