KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Bursa Malaysia opened mixed on Tuesday on cautious market sentiment ahead of key interest rate decisions from major central banks, including the Bank of Japan today and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday.

At 9.03am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shaved 0.18 of-a-point to 1,439.02 from Monday’s closing of 1,439.2.

The benchmark index opened 0.45 of a point easier at 1,438.75.

Nevertheless, the broader market saw advancers leading decliners 151 to 53, while 233 counters were unchanged, 1,939 untraded, and 61 suspended.

Turnover stood at 149.82 million units worth RM47.49 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street staged a strong rally overnight as traders betted that the Fed might be done with interest rate hikes for the rest of 2023. Therefore, all eyes would be on the Fed meeting today and tomorrow, he said.

He also noted that Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was flattish due to weak earnings from major banks attributed to high impairment charges related to the weak Chinese property market.

"(However) we reckon regional markets may take a cue today from Wall Street’s rally overnight, which will spill over to the local bourse. In view of this, we expect the FBM KLCI to hover within the 1,440 and 1,450 range; and expect some bargain hunting activities for contractors and telcos today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank added one sen to RM9.0 while Public Bank, IHH Healthcare, and CelcomDigi were flat at RM4.15, RM5.96, and RM4.20, respectively.

CIMB gave up two sen to RM5.68, Petronas Chemicals lost three sen to RM7.25 while Tenaga slipped one sen to RM9.85.

Of the actives, CSH Alliance and Tanco were flat at 5.5 sen and 57.5 sen, respectively, while Classita inched up half-a-sen to seven sen and Kinergy trimmed half-a-sen to 32.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 6.06 points to 10,605.38, the FBMT 100 Index went up 4.87 points to 10,280.65 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 12.14 points to 10,814.09.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 33.48 points to 13,936.47. However, the FBM ACE Index shed 5.94 points to 4,999.66.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.08 of a point to 172.2, the Plantation Index gained 2.38 points to 6,901.06 and the Energy Index perked up 0.66 of a point to 864.3.

The Financial Services Index fell 24.83 points to 16,187.37. — Bernama