13/12/2021 (Bernama), Kuala Lumpur - Bursa Malaysia opened higher in early trade on Monday (Dec 13), rebounding from last week's losses, taking its cue from the stronger performance of Wall Street last Friday despite US inflation fear. At 9.06am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had increased 3.52 points to 1,492.40, compared with 1,488.88 at last Friday’s close. The index opened three points higher at 1,491.88. On the broader market, gainers led losers 141 to 123, while 198 counters were unchanged, 1,833 untraded and 21 others suspended. Turnover stood at 168.19 million units valued at RM79.72 million. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said as concerns over the Omicron Covid-19 variant (dampening the economic recovery) seemed to have subsided, this is expected to lend support to both the stock and commodity markets. "Investors will be waiting for the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week for further clues about monetary policy going forward,” it said. On the commodities segment, it noted that crude palm oil (CPO) prices stood above RM4,800, while crude oil prices hovered above the US$75 (about RM315.52) per barrel mark. "For sectors in focus, as both CPO and crude oil stabilised over the past week, traders are expected to focus on the oil and gas and plantation sectors in the near term. "Meanwhile, the technology sector may also be lifted by the positive performance of Wall Street," the brokerage firm said. Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added five sen to RM8.17, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained one sen each to RM8.43 and RM5.19 respectively, IHH Healthcare Bhd rose nine sen to RM6.67 and Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM3.99. Of the actives, Impiana Hotels Bhd edged up half a sen to 9.5 sen, Dataprep Holdings Bhd improved increased 10 sen to RM1.19 and Sedania Innovator Bhd improved 3.5 sen to 62.5 sen, while Daya Materials Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd were flat at one sen and five sen respectively. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 20.5 points higher at 10,880.29, the FBMT 100 Index was up 20.52 points to 10,852.09 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 15.73 points to 11,729.98. The FBM 70 climbed 9.48 points to 14,055.51, while the FBM ACE weakened 19.11 points to 6,209.21. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.01 of a point to 193.31, the Financial Services Index gained 34.99 points to 15,144.32 and the Plantation Index firmed 27.46 points to 6,493.95.