KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia showed some upside bias at Friday's open even as analysts awaited the emergence of a fresh catalyst to take the main index to a higher leg of trading.
The FBM KLCI was up 2.58 points to 1,575.60 as trading commenced, hovering below the 200-day simple moving average following a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight.
While the S&P500 extended its gains for another session, the Nasdaq was weighed down by insurer UnitedHealth Group, after it was reported it was being investigated for fraud.
Rakuten Trade said the FBM KLCI's "stop-start" movement suggests it will require a strong catalyst for the benchmark to test the 1,600 level.
"As of now, we suspect the index may mirror the regional markets’ performance, which are highly susceptible to the ongoing externalities. Therefore, we expect the index to trend within the 1,570- 1,580 range today," it said in its commentary.
Malacca Securities Research said in its review that Indonesia's plan to raise its crude palm oil export levy from 7.5% to 10% should benefit Malaysian plantation players, extending gains in the sector.
It also noted breakouts in poultry counters Teo Seng and Leong Hup as the market repositioned into domestic-driven stocks.
Meanwhile, it said REITs could gain attention as defensive plays amid the global tariffs uncertainty with Sunway REIT and Pavilion REIT
reporting year-on-year net property income growth of 20% and 5% respectively.
Among the day's early movers, PETRONAS Dagangan jumped 16 sen to RM20.14, Allianze gained 12 sen to RM19.50 and Aurelius Tech climbed 11 sen to RM3.49.
Laggards included Nestle down RM1.18 to RM82.82, MPI shaving 42 sen to RM21.26 and LPI Capital dropping 14 sen to RM14.24.
