Bursa erases earlier losses as anticipation over Fed decision grows

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian benchmark stock index retraced losses from earlier in the day to enter the lunch break on a flat note as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a highly anticipated US Federal Reserve rate hike decision.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.32 points to 1,446.8 as nerves kept stock prices in check and the overall market evenly split with 370 decliners compared to 379 gainers.

There were 2.03 billion shares traded for a value of RM1.15bil.

While there was only slight movement in the blue-chip index, laggards included Nestle down RM1.80 to RM115.90, Maxis sliding three sen to RM3.80 and Tenaga down four sen to RM9.89.

There was also profit-taking in the technology sector with D&O dropping 11 sen to RM3.46 and Greatech sliding nine sen to RM4.54. Unisem, however, climbed seven sen to RM3.35.

Leading gainers on the market included Hartalega climbing 16 sen to RM2.45, QL Resources adding 15 sen to RM5.68 and Aurelius Tech gaining eight sen to RM2.77.

Top actives included Sarawak Cable rising four sen to 25 sen, TWL unchanged at 3.5 sen and Bina Puri adding 0.5 sen to nine sen.

Across the region, markets were mostly lower as anxieties over the Fed's decision weighed on the recent positive optimism.

The CME FedWatch Tool suggests the Fed is all but certain to halt interest rate hikes, with a 75% probability it would start cutting lending costs as soon as May 2024.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.2% to 32,916 and South Korea's Kospi slid 0.5% to 2,521.

China's composite index fell 0.5% to 2,989 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.7% to 16,252.