KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its upward trend in the early trading session on Thursday, following a positive lead from Wall Street, which saw gains driven by improved consumer confidence.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9:05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 2.70 points to 1,616.79, building on Wednesday’s close of 1,614.09. The index began the day 2.05 points higher at 1,616.14. Market breadth was favorable, with 226 gainers surpassing 101 losers, while 285 counters remained unchanged, 1,844 were untraded, and 11 were suspended. Turnover reached 193.50 million units valued at RM91.02 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street continues to hit record highs, primarily led by technology stocks. Traders are also anticipating the upcoming US employment data release, which could impact the Federal Reserve’s approach to interest rates. Domestically, the index is expected to fluctuate between 1,615 and 1,625, with aspirations of reaching 1,630 to prevent a prolonged
consolidation phase.
ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves indicated that Asian equities, particularly in the technology and communication sectors, are likely to perform well, buoyed by Wall Street’s gains. The easing of US yields and weakening of the US dollar present a supportive environment. Additionally, attention may turn to the energy sector as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus meeting unfolds. A 3-month extension of the current production cut is anticipated, with a 6-month extension seen as a bullish scenario for oil prices.
In terms of individual stocks, Maybank and Public Bank remained steady at RM10.18 and RM4.53 respectively, while CIMB rose by five sen to RM8.25 and Tenaga Nasional increased by six sen to RM13.70. IHH saw a slight decline, losing two sen to RM7.28. Newly listed Cropmate Bhd added one sen to 21 sen, MMS Venture edged up by half-a-sen to 49.5 sen, Silver Ridge fell by 10 sen to 54 sen, while Solution Group and Mestron stayed flat at 17 sen and 30.5 sen respect
ively.
On the broader index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced by 31.44 points to 12,346.07, the FBMT 100 Index rose by 31.12 points to 12,031.80, and the FBM 70 Index surged by 87.75 points to 18,324.85. The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 32.19 points to 12,338.66, while the FBM ACE Index dropped by 36.27 points to 5,228.98.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index grew by 27.46 points to 19,161.18, the Plantation Index increased by 12.88 points to 7,759.94, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up by 0.23 of-a-point to 176.36, and the Energy Index gained 1.05 points to 818.53.