At 9.20am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 0.94 points or 0.06% to 1,709.84 from Wednesday’s close of 1,708.90.
The key index opened 3.14 points firmer at 1,712.04.
Market breadth was positive with 262 gainers leading 228 losers, while 346 counters were unchanged, 1,812 untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover stood at 359.84 million shares worth RM248.49 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed higher yesterday despite conflicting messages from both the US and Iran, boosted by the positive developments in West Asia.
He noted that US president Donald Trump remains adamant that the war will end in two to three weeks.
Similarly, Asian markets also ended the day mostly in positive territory, with FBM KLCI closing at almost the 1,710 level, attributed to the emergence of bargain hunting following a dismal performance the day before.
“Locally, we still noticed some apprehension despite the positive performance. Nonetheless, we foresee buying activities would continue, and expect the index to trend in the 1,705-1,720 range today,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM11.70, while Public Bank slipped three sen to RM4.74, Tenaga Nasional eased two sen to RM14.06, IHH Healthcare shed six sen to RM8.90, and CIMB was flat at RM7.71.
On the most active list, V.S Industry inched up one sen to 21 sen, while AirAsia X edged down one sen to RM1.20, and both Velesto Energy and Bumi Armada were flat at 34 sen each.
Among top gainers, Nestle jumped RM1 to RM101.70, Allianz added 30 sen to RM21.20, Petronas Chemicals rose 25 sen to RM5.65, Press Metal Aluminium was 23 sen higher at RM8.18, and Hong Leong Industries grew by 12 sen to RM16.78.
As for top losers, United Plantations reduced 20 sen to RM34.60, Westports lost 18 sen to RM5.62, both Sunway and AmBank contracted 11 sen to RM5.07 and RM6.61, respectively, and Itmax System slid nine sen to RM4.62.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index inched up 1.16 points to 12,318.75, the FBM Emas Index rose 1.25 points to 12,452.91, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 12.84 points to 12,212.52.
Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index eased 3.72 points to 4,346.63, and the FBM 70 Index dipped 22.92 points to 17,079.43.
By sector, the Financial Services Index dropped 29.81 points to 20,432.44, and the Plantation Index inched down 9.36 points to 8,956.91, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was marginally higher by 2.35 points at 184.23, and the Energy Index increased 0.17 of a point to 792.49.