KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 29): The benchmark FBM KLCI kicked off the day higher despite Wall Street weaker performance overnight as traders stayed sidelined ahead of the US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data due out later Thursday.

At 9.17am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 1.94 points to 1,547.53 from Wednesday’s close of 1,545.59.

The benchmark index opened 2.03 points better at 1,547.62.

However, the broader market sentiment was negative with losers outpacing gainers 390 to 187, while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,424 untraded and 43 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 456.20 million units worth RM223.51 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street staged a weaker performance overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 23 points lower while the Nasdaq Composite declined by 88 points as the US 10-year yield dipped to 4.266%.

Meanwhile, he said, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 254 points, the worst in four weeks, as traders decided to lock in profits.

"Nonetheless, Hong Kong developers received a boost following the lifting of curbs on property transactions," he told Bernama.

Back home, he reckons a swift rebound is needed to maintain the recent uptrend and push the index further.

"Therefore, we expect the index to possibly hover within the 1,545-1,555 range today," he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM9.53 while CIMB also rose two sen to RM6.45. Public Bank inched up one sen to RM4.44, Tenaga Nasional added six sen to RM11.02 and Petronas Chemicals gained five sen to RM6.90.

As for the actives, MYEG Services expanded 2.5 sen to 81.5 sen, Velesto Energy edged up one sen to 29 sen, Ekovest lost 2.5 sen to 45 sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated was flat at 1.5 sen. Bumi Armada was also flat at 52 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 7.20 points lower at 11,456.43, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 7.72 points to 11,123.62, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 12.67 points to 11,470.29, the FBM 70 Index dipped 66.94 points to 15,371.69, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 17.10 points to 4,748.14.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 29.67 points to 17,329.30, the Plantation Index was up by 1.21 points to 7,156.93, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.37 of-a-point to 175.57, and the Energy Index shed 2.49 points to 922.15.