BURSA Malaysia opened higher today as investors showed relief at the ending the political uncertainty with the appointment of Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s as the country’s ninth prime minister over the weekend.

At 9.19am the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.56 points to 1521.59 from Friday’s close of 1518.03.

The index opened 1.96 points higher at 1519.99.

The FBM Emas Index was up by 36.53 points at 11,144.49, the FBMT 100 Index gained 33.49 points to 10,854.13 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was up 45.64 points to 12,263.15.

The FBM ACE index gained 52.30 points to 7198.66 while the FBM 70 was up by 82.09 points to 14,680.94.

Most of the 13 sectoral indices were up with plantation gaining 37.94 points to trade at he most points, trading at 6454.32.

The only two sectors which saw a dip was healthcare, which lost 14.31 points to 2746.75, and REIT, which traded at 808.58 after losing 0.29 points.

There were 366 gainers over 227 losers, while 355 counters were unchanged and 1,260 untraded.

Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, SAM Engineering and Equipment Bhd and Genetec Technology Bhd were the top gaining counters at early trade.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks in Japan, South Korea and Australia rose in today’s early trade as investors looked to take advantage of last week’s sell-off while also weighing in on the risks from the Delta Covid-19 strain and China’s regulatory curbs.

Ismail took his oath of office on Saturday, replacing Muhyiddin Yassin after the Pagoh MP lost his parliamentary majority and resigned last week.

The Bera MP is the nation’s third prime minister since the 2018 general election

In his inaugural speech, which was aired live yesterday evening, the Umno vice-president said the government was looking to “return prosperity to the people”, increase domestic consumer spending power and strengthen the private sector.

“The crisis has brought a serious holistic impact to the global economy, including ours. Various industries, especially the small medium enterprises have been severely hit. Some are still struggling, while others have gone bankrupt.

“This has in turn impacted our people’s financial health. This government will be focusing on achieving these two main objectives: the first is returning public prosperity by amplifying efforts in escalating the purchasing power among the domestic consumers. – August 23, 2021.