KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia recovered from the previous day's declines, rising in early trading on Friday due to increased buying activity, following a strong performance on Wall Street.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.31 points to 1,603.53 from yesterday's close of 1,601.22.

The benchmark index opened 2.24 points better at 1,603.46.In the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 213 to 132, while 329 counters remained unchanged, with 1,666 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed higher yesterday amid a weaker job environment that saw the latest jobless claims at its highest level since August last year rekindling hopes that the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates soon.

Back home, Thong said the FBM KLCI ended in negative territory after a strong opening yesterday as sellers maintained their dominance after the recent rally.

"Nonetheless, we deemed this as a healthy correction and expect the index to reverse its direction anytime soon. "Therefore, we believe the benchmark index to trend between the 1,600-1,610 today with interests returning to the construction and telco segments. "Meanwhile, we are Neutral on BNM's widely expected move to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3 per cent yesterday," he told the Business Times.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd,  CIMB Group Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd stayed flat at RM9.84, RM6.75 and RM7, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional Bhd fell four sen to RM12.40 and Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.19.

On the actives, Classita Holdings Bhd was flat at four sen, Malaysia Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) added one sen to 70sen, Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd rose 2.5 sen to 32 sen while Harvest Miracle Bhd and Iconic Worldwide Bhd increased half-a-sen to 11 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively.Ends