KUALA LUMPUR:Bursa Malaysia opened marginally lower, tracking its regional peers which did not react to the US and European stocks which edged higher overnight on the back of a string of encouraging earnings reports and economic data.

At 9.12am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.35 of-a-point easier at 1,747.57 after opening 0.13 of-a-point lower at 1,747.79 this morning.

On the broader market, gainers were slightly higher at 163 against 136 losers while 207 counters remained unchanged with 1,304 untraded and 18 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 354.27 million shares worth RM182.90 million.

AliianceDBS Research in a note said buying power was stronger than selling pressure, judging from the local bourse's performance on Tuesday.

"As such, the FBMKLCI would likely trade above the 1,751.26 points level today," it added.

Hong Leong Investment bank said investors would remain cautious ahead of the outcome of the The Federal Open Market Committee meeting which would determine if there would be an interest rate hike in December.

Among heavyweights, PBBank added two sen to RM20.48, PChem rose three sen to RM7.40, Maybank was flat at RM9.25, Tenaga erased two sen to RM14.98 and Sime erased three sen to RM9.17.Of actives, Ekovest shed 17.5 sen to 98.5 sen, Bornoil and MUInd were both unchanged at 9.5 sen and 22.5 sen, respectively, while EAH declined half-a-sen to 40 sen.

Among losers, BAT eased 68 sen to RM38.52, LafMsia and Kimlun both declined 11 sen each to RM6.85 and RM2.2, respectively, Gtronic and Magni were 10 sen lower at RM6.49 and RM6.86, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index rose 3.74 points to 12,601.01, FBMT100 Index was 4.78 points firmer at 12,237.9, the FBM Ace accumulated 8.46 points to 6,948.63 and the FBM 70 jumped 33.17 points to 15,507.27.But, FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 8.34 points to 13,074.38.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index went up 10.77 points to 16,279.24 while the Plantation Index was 8.75 points easier at 7,990.27 and the Industrial Index erased 6.20 points to 3,190.57.-- BERNAMA