KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday morning, tracking the rally on Wall Street due to bargain hunting after the recent sell-offs.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 3.35 points to 1,490.96 from last Friday's close of 1,487.61.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.99 points better at 1,488.60.

On the broader market, gainers trounced losers 299 to 161, while 356 counters were unchanged, 1,404 untraded and 19 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 531.69 million units worth RM203.24 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said following Wall Street's rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26 points or 0.07% last Friday, while Nasdaq added 14 points or 0.1%.

“In Asia, key indices ended mixed as the selling of tech stocks continued in Hong Kong and the sluggish real estate market exerted pressure on property stocks.

“As a result, the Hang Seng Index dipped by 111 points or 0.66%," he told Bernama.

Back home, Thong expects buying of local stocks to persist, given the strong support from foreign funds and improved market sentiment, although he did not discount the possibility of profit-taking activities.

“Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,485-1,495 for today," he added.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd added two sen to RM9.08, Public Bank Bhd increased two sen to RM4.35, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose two sen to RM6.02, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained four sen to RM7.24, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd was two sen lower at RM10.48.

Of the actives, Ta Win Holdings Bhd inched up half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, Minetech Resources Bhd went up half-a-sen to 22 sen, Fitters Diversified Bhd was half-a-sen higher at six sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd lost half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and MQ Technology Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM 70 Index perked up 64.48 points to 15,124.35, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 29.76 points to 10,774.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved by 21.96 points to 11,254.10 and the FBM Emas Index added 32.16 points to 11,129.38, while the FBM ACE Index slid 6.19 points to 5,432.08.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.62 of-a-point firmer at 177.61, the Financial Services Index expanded 59.45 points to 16,641.78, the Plantation Index rose 7.85 points to 7,038.77, the Energy Index advanced by 3.62 points to 843.44 and the Property Index strengthened by 7.54 points to 933.30.