KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened the trading week marginally higher buoyed by the recent solid earnings by corporate Malaysia, before the benchmark index turned red on profit-taking.
At 9.23am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI was down 0.22 per cent or 3.66 points to 1,675.14 versus Friday's closing of 1,678.80.
The key index opened higher at 1,680.36.
The broader market saw gainers lead losers 349 to 295 while 352 counters were unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the index's strong rebound came as a surprise due to accumulation by foreign funds.
"We believe the uptrend to continue and expect the index to hover within the 1,680-1,690 range today with the crucial 1,700 as the ultimate immediate target. "Recent earnings released suggest that corporate Malaysia is in solid shape particularly the banks and expect the blue chips to remain as the bastion for the local bourse," said Thong.
He is hopeful that the daily volume will improve to the six billion shares mark as the small caps are in need of additional injection of liquidity.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities believes the broadly negative performance in the US technology stocks, coupled with the stronger ringgit environment may dampen the demand for local technology companies.
"On the other hand, the elevated ringgit could boost trading activity in sectors such as consumer, banking, construction, and building materials. We also favour selected oil and gas players following their strong earnings results," it said.