KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended higher today as volatility subsided amid renewed hope of a United States (US) Federal Reserve’s rate hike pause after the latest US inflation data.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 3.96 points to 1,449.58 from Wednesday’s close of 1,453.54.

The index opened 4.32 points lower at 1,449.22 and fluctuated between 1,445.31 and 1,455.09 throughout the session.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 527 to 342 while 459 counters were unchanged, 1,006 untraded and nine suspended.

Turnover was higher at 2.96 billion units worth RM2.20 billion against Wednesday’s 2.51 billion units worth RM1.88 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI finished in negative territory as investors have shifted their buying interests to smaller cap stocks.

"Buying interest can be seen mainly on plantation, healthcare and telco stocks while the energy sector was under selling pressure,” he told Bernama.

He said the domestic market’s tone is now more steady as compared with the start of the week after the release of US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.

He added that bargain-hunting activities also can be seen in most regional bourses following the sell-down in the past few days as investors held the belief that the marginal positive inflation surprise in the US is unlikely to result in higher interest rates.

US CPI accelerated to 3.7 per cent in August compared with market predictions of 3.6 per cent.

At home, heavyweight Maybank traded at ex-dividend today in respect of the single-tier first interim dividend for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023.

At close, its share rose one sen to RM8.84 compared with the reference price of RM8.83 while Public Bank and Axiata each added three sen to RM4.17 and RM2.50 respectively.

Press Metal lost three sen to RM4.89 and MISC was five sen weaker at RM7.18.

Of the actives, KNM, Sarawak Consolidated Industries and MQ Technology were flat at 10.5 sen, 47 sen and three sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index shed 10.11 points to 10,375.72 and the FBM Emas Index eased by 5.55 points to 10,700.46.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 21.94 points to 10,939.27, the FBM 70 Index perked 63.21 points to 14,151.55 and the FBM ACE Index was 20.26 points higher at 5,164.56.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 93.52 points to 16,237.42, the Energy Index improved one point to 881.41, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.07 of-a-point to 172.24 and the Plantation Index edged up 36.29 points to 6,965.20.

The Main Market’s volume widened to 2.12 billion units worth RM2 billion from 1.77 billion units worth RM1.70 billion on Wednesday.

Warrant turnover improved to 288.45 million units valued at RM41.40 million against yesterday’s 265.15 million units valued at RM36.82 million.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 546.61 million shares worth RM157.78 million from 465.79 million shares worth RM144.47 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 331.82 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (374.33 million); construction (121.57 million); technology (132.86 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (75.41 million); property (332.58 million); plantation (35.76 million); REITs (11.57 million), closed/fund (87,300); energy (467,49 million); healthcare (76.80 million); telecommunications and media (33.92 million); transportation and logistics (43.60 million); and utilities (80.15 million). — Bernama