FBM KLCI rises ahead of OPR decision

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI maintained its lead at midday ahead of Bank Negara's announcement of its interest rate decision later today.

At the lunch break, the market bellwether rose 3.7 points, or 0.26% to 1,439.03. It opened 0.61 of a point firmer at 1,435.94.

There were 458 gainers, 307 losers and 369 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Trading volume was 1.9 billion shares valued at RM1.01bil.

Among the gainers on Bursa Malaysia, Nestle jumped 60 sen to RM123.10, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 58 sen to RM26, Hong Leong Financial Group added 22 sen to RM17.44 and Heineken gained 22 sen to RM23.80.

Rapid tumbled RM1.20 to RM25.40, Hextar Technologies slid 50 sen to RM22.62, BLD Plantation fell 20 sen to RM10.62 and PPB lost 14 sen to RM15.06.

SMTrack, the most active counter on Bursa Malaysia, rose 1.5 sen to 4.5 with 141.47 million shares while Ranhill gained eight sen to 81.5 sen with 60.36 million shares done.

According to a Bloomberg survey, all four analysts expect the central bank to keep the OPR unchanged at 3%.

Since May 2022, Bank Negara has raised its OPR by 125 basis points (bps), raising the interest rate from 1.75% to 3%.

TA Securities said the local market should stay range bound pending monetary policy decisions from key global central bankers, and ahead of Bank Negara's monetary policy statement.

“Immediate overhead resistance for the index remains at 1,450, with 1,465/1,470 and the 1,490/1,500 area acting as tougher upside hurdles.

“Immediate support stays at 1,400, followed by 1,390, with the end June low of 1,370 acting as crucial support,” it added.

Asian markets extended its uptrend at midday. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.09%, South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.21% and China's composite index gained 0.11%.