Share prices open firmer in sync with US' positive leads

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were firmer in early trading Monday in sync with positive leads from the United States, dealers said.

At 9.11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.78 of a point higher at 1,656.91, after opening at 1,658.58, up 0.05 of a point.

It was reported on Friday that US' employers stepped up hiring in October and the jobless rate ticked higher as more workers restarted job hunts.

The jobs report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 171,000 jobs in the reviewed month following an upwardly revised increase of 148,000 jobs in September.

This reflects a hopeful sign for a lacklustre economy that has been a drag on President Barack Obama's re-election chances tomorrow, the dealers said.

Meanwhile, HwangDBS Vickers Research said the day's trading would be a test of resilience on the Malaysian stock market.

It said the benchmark FBM KLCI may threaten to break below its immediate support line of 1,655.

"This comes after it closed at its intra-week low of 1,656.13 following a late sell-off last week, as well as last Friday's slump on Wall Street (which saw its key equity indices falling between 0.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent)," it said in a research note.

On the broader market, gainers led losers by 87 to 73, while 118 counters were unchanged, 1,370 counters untraded and 33 suspended.

Volume stood at 59.581 million shares worth RM35.658 million.

Among actives, Tiger Synergy gained two sen to 48.5 sen, Eastland Equity improved 1.5 sen to 50 sen and Scomi added 0.5 sen to 40 sen.

Iris Corp and Nova MSC was flat at 18 sen and 6.5 sen, respectively, while Metronic Global lost half-a-sen to 11 sen.

Heavyweights, CIMB rose five sen to RM7.76, Sime Darby added two sen to RM9.78 and Axiata was one sen higher at RM6.17.

Maybank was flat at RM9.01 while Maxis lost three sen to RM6.89.