KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI inched higher in morning trade although the buying sentiment is expected to pick up following Wall Street's positive performance overnight and the US President's talk of lowering interest rates.
US markets rose overnight after President Trump’s World Economic Forum speech, where he announced plans to urge Opec nations to lower oil prices to curb inflation, and then push for further interest rate cuts.
The S&P 500 gained 32.34 points, or 0.53%, to 6,118.71, a new closing record.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up 0.3 points to 1,577.5.
Analysts are expecting investors to pick up shares in YTL Corp and YTL Power following the announcement of their plan to issue bonus warrants, while YTL Power has secured access to Nvidia chips despite US export curbs.
"We believe that bargain-hunting opportunities will emerge within the YTL-related counters," said Malacca Securities Research in a note.
However, both counters have started Friday on a softer footing with YTL Power sliding 11 sen to RM3.94 and YTL Corp losing three sen to RM2.35.
The research firm also expects Oriental Kopi to continue seeing strong trading interest in its second day of trading.
Yesterday, the share leapt over 100% to close at 87.5 sen, indicating the huge popularity of the cafe operator.
In early Friday trade, the share rose 3.5 sen to 91 sen, and topped the list of actives once again.
Other stocks seeing investor interest include Westports, which yesterday announced record revenue and profits, rising eight sen to RM4.55.
Country View jumped 18 sen to RM1.83 and Frontken rose five sne to RM4.15.
