KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia recovered this morning as the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision to keep interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, amid a cooling inflation print boosted risk appetite.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) bagged 3.81 points to 1,612.76 compared with 1,608.95 at yesterday’s close.
The FBM KLCI opened 3.63 points higher at 1,612.58
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 346 to 163, while 357 counters were unchanged, 1,535 untraded, and 15 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 367.88 million units worth RM234.62 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street ended mostly higher with the Nasdaq charging up 1.53% after the US consumer price index (CPI) showed slowing inflationary pressure, boosting the hunt for equities.
“Even though the Fed kept the interest rate unchanged and is looking at one rate cut in 2024, the market is expecting more rate cuts this year due to declining inflationary numbers,” it said in a note.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the CPI declined to 3.3% on a yearly basis in May from 3.4% in April.
The US annual core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.4%, lower than the 3.6% recorded in April and an estimate of 3.5%.
This latest development also boosted the oil market, with the Brent trading back in the US$81 to US$84 range, which is healthy for oil producers, and set to boost the sector’s related stocks.
Back home, heavyweight stocks CIMB gained seven sen to RM6.96, Tenaga Nasional rose 12 sen to RM14, while Petronas Chemicals and MISC were six sen better at RM6.64 and RM8.57, respectively. Public Bank edged up two sen to RM4.08.
As for the active counters, Agmo climbed 11 sen to 74 sen, SNS Network added 1.5 sen to 89 sen, DNeX lost half-a-sen to 49 sen and MYEG garnered three sen to RM1.12. Revenue Group was half-a-sen better at 24 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index put on 26.50 points to 12,409.16, the FBMT 100 Index gained 26.81 points to 11,980.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 18.19 points to 12,772.03.
The FBM 70 Index accumulated 34.74 points to 18,168.20 and the FBM ACE Index was 84.88 points stronger at 5,820.54.
Sector-wise, the financial services index advanced 44.10 points to 17,597.78, the industrial products and services index improved 0.56 of-a-point to 199.69 and the energy index notched up 4.34 points to 983.64.
The plantation index lost 6.15 points to 7,058.00. – June 13, 2024