KUALA LUMPUR: BURSA Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in banking stocks despite a mixed overnight performance on Wall Street and continued selling pressure on technology and semiconductor counters.
Overnight, the S&P 500 declined 0.51% to 7,541.40 points. The Nasdaq dropped 1.07% to 25,164.32 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41% to 51,983.98 points.
The FBM KLCI rose 3.03 points, or 0.19%, to 1,622.54 at 9.19am, after opening 1.25 points higher at 1,620.76, supported by gains in banking stocks.
Banking stocks led the gains, with Hong Leong Bank rising 20 sen to RM21.38, RHB Bank
adding 18 sen to RM7.68, AmBank climbing 14 sen to RM6.41 and Maybank gaining six sen to RM10.04.
Other gainers included Nestlé, which surged 42 sen to RM96.54, and United Plantations, which rose four sen to RM29.34.
In contrast, technology and semiconductor stocks dominated the losers' list, led by Malaysian Pacific Industries, which tumbled 58 sen to RM39.20. ViTrox shed 30 sen to RM10.18, Mi Technovation fell 27 sen to RM6.03 and UWC lost 17 sen to RM6.92.
“We expect trading to be muted ahead of the US mid-term election later today.
“As such, we expect the index to trend between the 1,615-1,625 range today,” Rakuten Trade said.
It noted that the benchmark index closed higher yesterday despite a weak opening, supported by bargain hunting, while foreign buying appeared to be returning sporadically.
Malacca Securities expects the FBM KLCI to remain resilient, supported by domestic digital and data centre investments.
It highlighted SkyeChip's exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing chip design, alongside Gamuda's water infrastructure project for Google in Negeri Sembilan.
Other potential beneficiaries include Infomina, ISF Group and Northern Solar, following recent contract wins and project awards linked to enterprise software, data centres and renewable energy.
