KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its uptrend as bargain hunters drove the key index up more than 11 points in early trade, in what is generally seen as a Santa rally.
At 9.36am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 11.33 points or 0.70 per cent to 1,625.03 compared with yesterday's close of 1,613.70.The benchmark index opened 3.86 points higher at 1,617.56.
The broader market was positive, with gainers led losers 341 to 253, while 386 counters remained unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said the Wall Street ended little changed after a weak opening as the pre-Christmas buying fizzled out while the US 10-year yield remains high at 4.585 per cent.
He said the Hong Kong market was closed for Boxing Day and will resume trading today.
On the home front, Yee said the FBM KLCI finally closed above the 1,610 level underpinned by bargain hunting activities.
Based on 2025 estimates, the local bourse is currently trading at a price-to-earnings (PE) of almost 15 times which is deem reasonable.
"Nonetheless, daily volume traded remained low as foreign selling may be drying up, hence offer ample opportunities for the benchmark index to climb further, hopefully to above the 1,630 mark. "As such, we expect the index to possibly hover within the 1,610 to 1,620 range today," Yee added.