KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today extending its new year rally from last week, tracking Wall Street's upward trend driven by bargain hunting.
In the first twenty minutes of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) hit a high of 1,495.07, up 7.47 pints from to last Friday's close at 1,487.61.
In the wider market, gainers led losers 416 gainers to 235, with 369 counters unchanged.
In a sea of green, the FBM ACE and FBM Fledgling were the only two indices that were down, at 0.57 per cent and 0.04 per cent respectively.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continues to trend higher with strong buying on energy and banking stocks," he said.
Thong emphasised that market sentiment had improved and that foreign funds will continue to support the market, while acknowledging the possibility of profit-taking."We anticipate that the FBM KLCI will trend within the range of 1,485-1,495 for today," added Thong.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 26 points or 0.07 per cent, while Nasdaq added 14 points or 0.1 per cent."In Asia, key indices ended mixed, however selling of tech stocks continues in HK while at the same time, sluggish real estate market exerted pressure on property stocks and as a result, the HSI dipped by 111 points or 0.66 per cent.
