KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, was higher in early trade Wednesday as buying support helped drive a rebound amid optimism about US interest rate cuts sooner than expected.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) bagged 1.69 points to 1,451.15 from Tuesday’s close of 1,449.46.
The index opened 1.45 points higher at 1,450.91.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers beating decliners 145 to 101, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,852 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 80.21 million units worth RM48.08 million (US$1=RM4.674).
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the report on US job openings on the last business day of October, which fell to the lowest level since early 2021, suggested the Fed may end its interest rates upcycle and could be looking at a rate cut as early as March next year.
The latest prints in Japan and South Korea also showed inflation cool-than-expected.
“Thus, with the expectation of an interest rate cut next year, we think it may provide buying support for local equities,” it said in a note.
At home, Rakuten Trade head of research Kenny Yee expects the FBM KLCI to maintain its consolidation and oscillate within the 1,445-1,455 for Wednesday.
“Despite recent good corporate earnings showing, sentiment remains cautious in the absence of strong inflow of funds.
“On top of that, Wall Street closed on a mixed note as US equities took a breather as many see recent strong performances may have outrun the underlying fundamentals amid the cooling labour market,” he noted.
On the local bourse, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM7.13, CIMB was four sen higher at RM5.79, while Public Bank, Maybank and Genting rose two sen each to RM4.27, RM9.03 and RM4.60.
As for the most active counters, Sarawak Consolidated, Reneuco and Sunzen Biotech went up half-a-sen to 78.5 sen, 22 sen and 30.5 sen respectively.
Reach Energy and Eduspec were flat at 3.5 sen and 6.5 sen respectively, while Zelan added one sen to 6.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index put on 10.67 points to 10,693.04, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 10.63 points to 10,363.69, the FBM 70 Index rose by 8.21 points to 14,033.48 and the FBM ACE Index recovered 7.13 points to 5,085.94.
However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 8.54 points to 10,828.13.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 53.21 points to 16,393.50, the Industrial Products and Services Index accumulated 0.45 of-a-point to 170.28, the Plantation Index improved 3.75 points to 6,992.65 but the Energy Index edged down 3.70 points to 805.52.
— NNN-BERNAMA