Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI rebounded to surge past the 1,450 mark underpinned by broad-based buying yesterday.

“We believe buying activities to persist and expect the index to hover within the 1,455 to 1,465 range today, taking advantage of the attractive valuation of the domestic market.

“Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged higher with the Brent closing above US$76 per barrel as demand is seen to improve due to the US economy staying upbeat,” he noted.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 0.48 of-a-point to 1,456.74 versus yesterday’s close of 1,456.26.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.31 points weaker at 1,455.95.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 164 to 96, while 261 counters were unchanged, 1,817 untraded, and 45 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 148.28 million units worth RM60.15 million.

Among the key heavyweight counters, Maybank was flat at RM9.05, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.32, CIMB was one sen better at RM5.82, Petronas Chemicals accumulated two sen at RM7.17 while TNB erased one sen to RM9.96.

Of the actives, Bina Puri, Saudee, and Handal were all flat at 9.5 sen, three sen, and 12 sen, Pan Malaysia and CN Asia were half-a-sen better at 7.5 sen and 17 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 7.65 points to 10,795.32, the FBMT 100 Index was up 5.94 points to 10,460.91, the FBM ACE Index improved 16.25 points to 5,155.57 while the FBM 70 Index added 19.09 points to 14,415.72.

But the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced by 5.68 points to 10,899.16.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 28.58 points to 16,458.63 but the Plantation Index declined 4.15 points to 6,996.67, the Energy Index rose 5.86 points to 810.09, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.24 of-a-point to 171.97.