Bursa holds above 1,450 level despite mixed Wall Street cues

The local bourse is expected to continue its uptrend with the easing US yields

BURSA Malaysia’s barometer index continued to march above the 1,450 level as fears over higher interest rates eased regionally despite mixed Wall Street cues.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ticked up 2.13 points to 1,457.11 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,454.98.

The barometer index opened 2.98 points higher at 1,457.96.

The broader market was also positive with gainers surpassing losers 176 to 73, while 207 counters were unchanged, 1,905 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 126 million units valued at RM52.08 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd VP (equity research) Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that Wall Street closed mixed after choppy trading amid lacklustre quarterly results from Microsoft Inc and Alphabet Inc. 

“At home, the FBM KLCI finally breached the 1,450 level yesterday, underpinned by buying interest from local institutions. We reckon the local bourse to continue its uptrend with the easing US yields,” he said.

He added that the market may test the 1,465 level with buying interest likely to return to the banking stocks, as well as oil-related counters as the oil benchmark Brent crude climbed above US$95 (RM446.50) per barrel. 

Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Telekom Malaysia Bhd clinched six sen to RM5.56, while Dialog Group Bhd, Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd and Maxis Bhd gained two sen each to RM1.93, RM1.98, RM2.83 and RM3.71, respectively.

Newly-listed Betamek Bhd topped the most active list, adding 3.5 sen to 74.5 sen, followed by Impiana Hotels Bhd and Green Packet Bhd, which were flat at 2.5 sen and four sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 21.88 points to 10,319.42, the FBM 70 added 29.06 points to 12,205.36 and the FBM T100 Index increased 16.84 points to 10,060.87.    

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 20.34 points to 10,346.45, while the FBM ACE expanded 12.2 points to 4,881.24.    

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 36.93 points to 16,529.71, the Energy Index edged up 9.79 points to 693.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.01 of-a-point to 174.95, and the Plantation Index was 12.43 points better at 6,953.92. — Bernama / pic TMR