KUALA LUMPUR: A strong performance on Wall Street overnight provided a positive lead, boosting market sentiment and lifting Bursa Malaysia at the opening today.
The FBM KLCI rose 4.91 points, or 0.3%, to 1,639.82 at 9:21 am. The index opened at 1,639.75, up 4.84 points from yesterday’s close of 1,634.91.
Dealers noted positive momentum in U.S. markets following the release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes, which showed strong support for a half-point rate cut.
However, officials agreed that this move did not commit the Fed to a specific pace of future cuts, especially ahead of September's inflation data and the upcoming earnings season.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.03% to 42,512.00. The S&P 500 gained 0.71% to 5,792.04 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.60% to 18,291.62.
Inter-Pacific Research noted that the market's cautious trend could continue, as the lack of leads is restraining fresh buying interest. However, foreign buying is gradually returning after a recent shift to Greater China stocks.
“The directionless trading could see the FBM KLCI making little headway as market players are also awaiting for the unveiling of Budget 2025 next week for potentially new directions, but there could be some mild upside bias in the interim, mirroring the overnight gains on key global equity indices.
“Apart from the above support and resistance levels, the others are at 1,625 and 1,647 points respectively,” it said.
Inter-Pacific noted that with many retail investors remaining on the sidelines, lower liners and the broader market are likely to stay confined within a narrow range for now.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade believes the trading pattern to improve slightly, taking a cue from the more positive US market thus expect the index to hover within the 1,635-1,645 range today.
Among the gainers on Bursa Malaysia, Kuchai Development rose 18 sen to RM5.18, Hong Leong Financial Group added 10 sen to RM19.22, Kluang gained 10 sem to RM5.88 and MISC climbed 10 sen to RM7.81.
F&N slid 34 sen to RM30.46, United Plantations fell 18 sen to RM25.92, Petron declined 10 sen to RM4.36 and Hume Cement Industries gave up eight sen to RM3.27.
Pertama Digital rebounded after several days of downtrend, adding 2.5 sen, or 10.2%, to 27 sen, with 30.55 million shares traded.