KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 ― Bursa Malaysia continued to sing the blues during mid-afternoon today, backed by a strong uptake almost across the board since morning.
At 3.05pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 20.52 points to 1,594.53 from Friday’s close of 1,615.05.
The benchmark index opened 5.48 points higher at 1,598.36.
Analysts said that the movement was in line with regional peers following the announcement of tariff suspension by the US on Chinese goods.
The Straits Times Index was 1.02 points higher at 3,147.75, Japan's Nikkei rose 199.69 points to 20,655.13 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 90.59 points to 25,371.89.
Meanwhile, AmInvestment in its research note today said that despite the market’s positive sentiment today, investors remain cautious as main central banks consider cutting interest rates due to the global economic slowdown.
“Though the US consumer price index numbers came in slightly better than expected, it is unlikely to deter a rate cut, which both the US and the markets have been clamouring for.
“We are factoring in an 80 per cent chance of a 25bps rate cut in September by the Fed (US Federal Reserve) and a 40 per cent chance of a 50bps cut,” it said.
On Bursa Malaysia, gainers surpassed losers 422 to 265, with 362 counters unchanged, 857 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.57 billion units worth RM804.38 million.
Heavyweights Public Bank and CIMB gained 10 sen to RM20.84 and RM5.10 respectively, Maybank inched three sen to RM8.59, Tenaga Nasional advanced four sen to RM13.64 and Petronas Chemical firmed eight sen
Of the active stocks, Sumatec and KNM gained half-a-sen to 35 sen and 39 sen respectively, Datasonic improved 10 sen to 93.5 sen, with its warrant inching up six sen to 44 sen, while Berjaya Land gained 1.5 sen to 20 sen.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 66.21 points to 11,862.44, the FBM 70 rose 71.35 points to 14,234.18, the FBM Emas Index went up 66.02 points to 11,356.43, the FBMT 100 Index was 62.45 points higher at 11,190.73, and the FBM Ace gained 34.25 points to 4,647.93.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.69 point to 151.37 and the Plantation Index firmed 30.48 points to 6,722.14. ― Bernama
