KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bounced higher as it reopened following a public holiday, and on the heels of a corporate earnings rally on Wall Street.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 7.77 points to 1,588.91. Market breadth was positive with 255 gainers compared to 130 decliners.

       According to Malacca Securities Research, the acceptance of the highway deal by Gamuda may trigger some buying interest.

       "We opine that traders may focus on the construction and building material sectors.

       "Meanwhile, plantation stocks may continue to head higher on the back of firm FCPO price.

       "For the technology sector, we expect some bargain hunting to emerge due to the rebound on Wall Street overnight," it said in a note.

       In the financial services sector, Maybank rose four sen to RM8.79, CIMB added one sen to RM5.04 and Public Bank was unchanged at RM4.63.

       IHH Healthcare rose seven nse to RM6.57, Tenaga Nasional added three sen to RM8.96 and Sime Darby Plantation jumped 13 sen to RM5.28.

       Meanwhile, Press Metal descended five sen to RM6.49.

       Among top actives, Cengild added two sen to to 48.5 sen, SMI gained one sen to 33.5 sen and OCR rose 1.5 sen to 13.5 sen.