KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, lifted by gains in index-linked counters as traders tracked overnight gains on Wall Street.

At 9.30am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 11.77 points to 1,554.57 from Monday's close of 1,542.80, after opening 2.09 points firmer at 1,544.89 this morning.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced losers 280 to 121, with 218 counters unchanged, 1,364 untraded and 36 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 446.89 million shares worth RM258.64 million.

In a note, PublicInvest Research said the FBM KLCI opened higher today after the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 clinched closing records on Monday due to solid US fourth-quarter corporate earnings and looked beyond concerns about the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak's potential disruption to global supply chains.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.31 points to end at 29,276.82, a gain of 0.6 per cent. The S&P 500 index advanced 24.38 points, or 0.7 per cent, ending at 3,352.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 107.88 points, or 1.1 per cent, to finish at 9,628.39," it added.

Meanwhile, a dealer said some traders also decided to take advantage of the current low prices to accumulate quality stocks, following yesterday's losses.

Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank gained three sen to RM8.51, Tenaga rose 12 sen to RM12.62, Public Bank was two sen higher at RM18.30 and Petronas Chemicals increased 11 sen to RM6.50.

Of the actives, MYEG added six sen to RM1.22, Semuremetric rose one sen to 21.5 sen, Compugates added half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and Foundpac rose 3.5 sen to 88.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 69.52 points to 11,050.47, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 91.21 points to 11,774.05 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 68.89 points to 10,851.34.

The FBM 70 was 32.86 points higher at 13,771.76 and the FBM Ace increased 19.56 points to 5,538.45.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.93 of-a-point to 145.23, the Financial Services Index was 49.42 points higher at 14,921.26 and the Plantation Index perked 91.74 points to 7,387.37. 

 - Bernama