Malaysian Stock Exchange Opens Higher

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Stock Exchange opened higher Thursday supported by selected heavyweights led by TNB, on the back of encouraging economic data from the United States, dealers said. At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.55 points to 1,664.47 against Wednesday's close of 1,662.92, after opening 2.18 points better at 1,663.43 this morning. Gainers led losers 134 to 67 while 980 counters were unchanged, 478 untraded and 25 others suspended. Turnover stood at 534.51 million shares worth RM426.33 million. It was reported that US services sector activity rebounded to an 11-month high in September, signalling that the the US economy had improved. AllianceDBS Research in a note said a crossover of 1,672 points should see the market gearing towards the next resistance at 1,692 points. It said a fall below 1,652 points could send the market down to the subsequent support zone of 1,640-1,645 points. "The analysis of overall market action yesterday revealed that buying power was stronger than selling pressure. "As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade above the 1,664.25-point level today," it said. Meanwhile, RHB Retail Research in its note opined that the near-term rebound was not over yet. It advised traders to keep long positions, adding that a stop-loss could be set below the 1,639-point mark in order to limit the downside risk. Of the heavyweights, TNB added two sen to RM14.36, Public Bank rose six sen to RM19.98 and Maybank gained one sen to RM7.66. Actives included RGB International, Thrive Property Group and Asia Media Group, which were flat at 17.5 sen, 5.5 sen and nine sen respectively. Among gainers, FCW Holdings increased 20 sen to RM1.27, BAT improved 16 sen to RM49.08 while PMB Technology and Kuala Lumpur Kepong each added eight sen to RM1.53 and RM24.14 respectively. The FBM Emas Index rose 6.06 points to 11,766.69, the FBMT 100 Index gained 5.76 points to 11,469.80 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 8.22 points to 12,422.57. The FBM 70 lost 10.69 points to 13,824.00, the FBM Ace was 0.52 point lower at 5,184.16 but the Plantation Index improved 20.68 points to 7,907.15. The Finance Index rose 16.30 points to 14,301.34 but the Industrial Index eased 4.71 points to 3,122.23. -- BERNAMA