KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia staged a rebound in early trade on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's upbeat performance overnight after lower-than-expected US inflation data reignited hopes that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates soon.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 1.53 points to 1,604.76 compared to yesterday's close of 1,603.23. The barometer index opened 1.15 points higher at 1,604.38.

Advancers led gainers 231 to 176 with 312 counters unchanged, 1,649 untraded, and 10 others suspended.

Turnover totalled 297.48 million units worth RM195.11 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that he expects an uptick with the index expected to hover between the 1,605 and 1,615 range today after Wall Street's record closes overnight. The Dow Jones gained 350 points while the Nasdaq added 231 points, boosted by technology stocks and the US 10-year yield eased to 4.344 per cent.

US April consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3 per cent, below expectations for an increase of 0.4 per cent, suggesting inflation there has resumed a downward trend in the second quarter.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said buying interest may spill over to the domestic technology sector given the rally on Wall Street.

"The US imposing higher tariffs on Chinese products may benefit the gloves, semiconductor, electronics manufacturing services, and metal-related industries.

"We also like the construction, building materials and property sectors with domestic catalysts such as the ongoing mega infrastructure projects," it said in a note.

Among the heavyweight counters, YTL and Petronas Chemicals bagged four sen to RM3.67 and RM6.85, respectively.

YTL Power was five sen higher at RM5.19, Press Metal gained three sen to RM5.43 and Public Bank added one sen to RM4.16.

Glove counters continued to dominate the active list, but most were in the red with Top Glove dropping one sen to RM1.25 and Careplus easing 1.5 sen to 36.5 sen. Revenue increased half-a-sen to 25 sen and TWL was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 6.13 points to 12,190.82, the FBMT 100 Index rose 4.12 points to 11,796.64 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 4.42 points to 12,395.12, The FBM ACE Index went up 29 points to 5,314.69. The FBM 70 Index fell 22.91 points to 17,389.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 1.42 points to 17,508.26, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.66 of-a-point to 193.06 and the Plantation Index slipped 2.71 points to 7,382.16.

The Energy Index grew by 1.02 points to 986.95.

-- BERNAMA