KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia made a cautious start, but proved resilient, despite a sharp plunge in US markets after the latest Federal Reserve rate decision coupled with fresh US strikes on Iran.
The FBM KLCI was down a modest 1.84 points to 1,713.72 as at 9.06am.
Overnight, investors reacted negatively to Fed chair Kevin Warsh's decision to keep the lending rate unchanged. The Fed Open Market Committee was split with a 9-3 vote, which was unusual for the number of dissenters in favour of a rate hike.
The Dow Jones plunged 2.19% to 51,594, while the S&P500 fell 1.52% to 7,316 and the Nasdaq lost 1.74% to 24,442.
Apex Securities said investors are also digesting mixed signals from overnight Big Tech earnings with investors remaining divided over the sustainability of AI instrastructure spending.
In Malaysia, attention will turn to Saturday's Negeri Sembilan state election, which could add another layer of uncertainty ahead of the weekend.
"Overall, we expect investors to remain cautious and selective while awaiting clearer direction from upcoming U.S. earnings, key economic data and the weekend's election outcome," said Apex.
Among blue chips, Nestle dropped six sen to RM96.72 and Telekom fell six sen to RM7.61.
Chin Teck Plantations
fell 24 sen to RM10.80 following its after-hours results announcement yesterday, which showed a decline in earnings.
Malaysan Cement dropped nine sen to RM6.45 and MPI slid 10 sen to RM44.02.
