Bursa Malaysia slightly rebounded today, reflecting Wall Street’s recovery. The FBM KLCI rose to 1,593.83 with a turnover of RM112.92 billion. US tariffs provided relief, prompting market optimism. Anticipation builds for Malaysia’s 2024 economic data release, expected to show growth. Individual stocks displayed mixed results as sectors varied in performance.
Bursa Malaysia experienced a mild rebound today, recovering slightly from previous declines alongside Wall Street’s improvement. At 9:09 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 1.55 points to 1,593.83, recovering from yesterday’s close at 1,592.28. The index opened higher at 1,592.91, with gainers surpassing losers at 195 to 130, while there were 230 stocks unchanged, 1,764 untraded, and 22 suspended in total.
Turnover on the market reached 197.34 million units, valued at RM112.92 billion. Thong Pak Leng, vice president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that relief from US President Trump’s delayed tariffs brought some comfort to investors. This development resulted in a decrease in the US 10-year yield to 4.533 percent, indicating favorable conditions for fund movement in the Asian region including the local exchange.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd linked the Wall Street gains to a surge in Nasdaq stocks such as Nvidia, following Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s launch of an AI computing system using Nvidia’s technology. Additionally, Brent crude oil prices were stable at around USD 74–75 per barrel amidst possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, while gold prices rose towards USD 2,928 an ounce.
Malaysia is anticipated to release its 2024 economic data later today, with expectations for growth to exceed the previous estimate of 5.1 percent, driven chiefly by a forecasted 4.8 percent growth in the fourth quarter. Heavyweights in the index saw Maybank decline by four sen to RM10.48 while CIMB rose one sen to RM8.29. Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional remained unchanged at RM4.45 and RM13.88, respectively.
IHH Healthcare increased by four sen to RM7.25, whereas CelcomDigi fell by four sen to RM3.83. Active counters noted Harvest Miracle adding half a sen to 15 sen, Dialog dropping 26 sen to RM1.55, with Widad and Aneka Jaringan remaining unchanged. Performance on the index board included the FBM Emas Index rising by 5.56 points to 12,132.70 and the FBMT 100 Index improving by 2.46 points to 11,831.83.
In contrast, the FBM 70 Index declined by 31.74 points to 17,903.61, while the FBM ACE Index diminished by 2.01 points to 5,217.23. From a sector perspective, the Plantation Index advanced 7.79 points to 7,489.44, and the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 1.24 points to 165.41. However, the Financial Services Index fell by 9.56 points to 19,235.68, and the Energy Index decreased by 14.85 points to 803.51.
In summary, Bursa Malaysia experienced a slight recovery driven by external factors such as developments in the United States, but uncertainties linger regarding inflation pressures. The market showed mixed performances across different sectors and indices. Investors remain cautious ahead of crucial economic data releases, affecting market sentiment and expectations for the trading day ahead.
Original Source: www.bernama.com
