KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia kicked off the week on a positive note, buoyed by growing expectations of interest rate cuts ahead of the highly anticipated United States (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later tonight.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.16 points to 1,601.29 from last Friday’s close of 1,600.13.
The exchange and its subsidiaries were closed on Sept 15, following the additional public holiday declared in conjunction with Malaysia Day on Sept 16.
The index opened 2.09 points higher at 1,602.22 before paring some of its early gains.
Market breadth was positive, with 286 gainers and 152 decliners, while 317 counters were unchanged. Another 1,863 were untraded and seven were suspended.
Turnover stood at 173.30 million shares worth RM150.38 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said the local bourse appeared to be on solid ground, and he expected the FBM KLCI to hover within the 1,595–1,610 range today.
He noted that the FBM KLCI had surged to reach the 1,600 level last Friday (Sept 12), attributed to last-minute buying ahead of a long weekend.
“While the sustainability of this momentum remains uncertain, the underlying market strength supports a stable trading range,” he told Bernama.
Yee said interest was also centered on the purported talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the two powers reached an agreement to keep TikTok operating in the US.
On Wall Street, he said US stocks closed lower as traders locked in profits ahead of the FOMC’s interest rate decision and a statement by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on future policy direction.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.87, while Public Bank added one sen to RM4.26, CIMB bagged nine sen to RM7.46 and IHH jumped 13 sen to RM7.38. Tenaga, however, fell eight sen to RM13.30.
In active trade, Pharmaniaga and Bumi Armada increased half a sen each to 25.5 sen and 34.5 sen respectively, Notion gained four sen to 53 sen, and JCY put on two sen to 33.5 sen. VS Industry decreased 1.5 sen to 53 sen.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index improved 27.45 points to 11,890.17, the FBMT 100 Index gained 23.63 points to 11,647.40, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 16.62 points to 11,906.91.
The FBM 70 Index surged 100.90 points to 16,645.47, while the FBM ACE Index added 14.73 points to 4,817.00.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 1.37 points to 166.65, the Plantation Index advanced by 17.88 points to 7,717.42, the Financial Services Index rose by 51.73 points to 18,120.15, and the Energy Index climbed 6.38 points to 749.28. – Bernama
