KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia investors could be turning their attention to new buying opportunities even as global investors reposition their portfolios in light of the growing crisis in the Middle East.
US markets ended higher overnight as some buying opportunities have emerged out of the Middle East crisis as US investors flocked to oil and gas, and defence stocks.
"Given the strong rebound on Wall Street, the buying interest may emerge on the local front, focusing on the NETR and NIMP as well as the upcoming Budget 2024 this Friday," said Malacca Securities Research in a note.
The research firm said the spike in the price of Brent oil and gold following the Isreali-Palestinian conflict could put the spotlight on the oil and gas and gold-related sectors.
It said traders could also position themselves into the construction, property and building materials sectors ahead of Budget 2024.
At 9am, Malaysia's benchmark FBM KLCI was up 2.07 points to 1,419.33 as investors bought up potential winners following the recent sell-off.
There was strong rebound in bank stocks with Maybank climbing five sne to RM8.85, Public Bank adding three sne to RM4.06, CIMB gaining four sen to RM5.46 and Hong Leong Bank adding 20 sne to RM19.44.
Press Metal
jumped nine sen to RM4.79 while PETRONAS Chemicals gained five sen to RM7.22 and PETRONAS Gas rose six sen to RM17.10.
On the broader market, top active counters were KNM down two sen to 12.5 sen, Classita rising 0.5 sen to seven sen and Tanco unchanged at 55.5 sen.
