KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday, boosted by Wall Street's overnight rally, as U.S. jobs data eased recession fears among investors.
The FBM KLCI advanced 7.88 points, or 0.5%, to 1,598.10 at 9:18 am, with 20 of the component stocks in positive territory and three in the red. The index opened 10.78 points higher at 1,601.16.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.76% to 39,446.49, the S&P 500 gained 2.30% to 5,319.31 and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.87% to 16,660.02.
The rally on Wall Street came after the US Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended Aug 3.
The report stated that initial jobless claims dropped to 233,000, down by 17,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 250,000.
PublicInvest Research said the FBM KLCI might open higher today as U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday in Wall Street’s latest sharp move after a better-than-expected unemployment report eased worries about the slowing economy.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
jumped 56 sen to RM36.56, United Plantations rose 38 sen to RM25.68, Edaran added 17 sen to RM2.70 and Vstecs added 16 sen to RM3.41.
Among the decliners, PETRONAS Dagangan fell 12 sen to RM17.68, Anway lost five sen to RM6.90, OM Holdings declined four sen to RM1.26 and Hup Seng gave up two sen to RM1.05.
Cape EMS, the most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia, gained 1.5 sen to 49 sen with 60.5 million shares changing hands.’
Inter-Pacific Research said that following yesterday's pause, bargain hunting may pick up ahead of the weekend, taking its cue from Wall Street's strong overnight performance. This could help the key index stabilise and ease some of the recent market uncertainty.
“As it is, many market players are still assessing the state of the global economy amid the prognosis of continuing headwinds ahead, even as a U.S. interest rate cut appears to be in the offing. Still, the upsides could be relatively modest for now as the buying interest may remain light due to lack of impetuses and the continuing wariness over the market’s direction.
“As such, the psychological 1,600 level is likely to be the main hurdle for now with the immediate resistance pegged at the 1,595 level. The supports, on the other hand, are at 1,585 and 1,575 points respectively,” it said.
Apex Securities anticipates that this positive sentiment will spill over into the local bourse today, driven by the expected return of foreign funds.
Additionally, it said that the announcement of direct domestic investments by the six government-led GLICs is expected to further boost market sentiment.
However, the upside could be limited as investors might stay on the sidelines, given that today is the last trading day of the week, with many awaiting the upcoming corporate results season and the release of more US economic data next week.
“We expect to improve sector performance in construction, utilities, and technology today, as these sectors remain the preferred choice of foreign investors,” Apex said.
