KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, tracking the performance of Wall Street last Friday, as traders cheered the US' strong job data, according to analysts.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI had added 0.33 of a point to 1,555.58, from last Friday’s close at 1,555.25.

The benchmark index opened 1.53 points higher at 1,556.78.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 278 to 203, while 327 counters were unchanged, 1,523 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 390.78 million units worth RM147.41 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the Malaysian market maintained its resilience to end positively last week despite a weak regional performance.

“We believe sentiment will remain cautious. Buying interest should shift to the energy sector, in line with a solid Brent crude price, which closed above the US$91 (RM432.61) per barrel level.

“We expect the index to hover within the 1,550-1,560 range today (Monday),” he told Bernama.

Thong said that Wall Street rebounded last week, as traders decided to cheer on the strong job data and ignore the prospects of more delays in US interest rate cuts for the time being.

“As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 307 points, while the Nasdaq added 199 points, and the US 10-year yield edged higher to 4.4%.

Among the heavyweight counters at home on Monday, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added two sen to RM9.66 a share, Public Bank Bhd garnered one sen to RM4.19, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd declined one sen to RM6.62, Tenaga Nasional Bhd slipped two sen to RM11.50, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd weakened two sen to RM6.81.

Among the actives, ACE Market debutant SBH Marine Holdings Bhd added five sen to 27 sen, MMAG Holdings Bhd gained one sen to 19.5 sen, KNM Group Bhd at eight sen and Velesto Energy at 27.5 sen had shed half a sen each, and PUC Bhd was flat at 5.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 8.19 points to 11,711.37, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 6.55 points to 11,345.29, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 7.45 points to 11,873.55.

The FBM 70 Index rose by 26.31 points to 16,358.38, while the FBM ACE Index slid 0.35 of a point to 4,981.24.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved by 16.65 points to 17,256.07, the Plantation Index went up 15.59 points to 7,475.68, while the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 0.44 of a point to 184.62, and the Energy Index declined by 5.15 points to 962.35.