KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking gains on Wall Street, which closed sharply higher, after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) lifted interest rates heavily designed to counter inflation, an analyst said.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 10.11 points firmer at 1,581.43 from 1,571.32 at Wednesday’s close. The market bellwether opened 6.24 higher at 1.577.56.
On the broader market, the local bourse witnessed 336 gainers and 85 decliners, while 185 counters were unchanged, 2,310 untraded, and 40 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 175.14 million worth RM155.16 million.
The Fed said it would raise its benchmark Federal Funds Rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of between 0.25 per cent and 0.5 per cent, the first rate increase since 2018.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 500 points while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P500 rose 488 and 95 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors considered the 25 basis point increase came in in line with market expectations.
Back home, after experiencing a rebound yesterday following three days of selldown, he said the FBM KLCI is expected to stay higher as investors may continue with bargain-hunting activities, given the cheap valuations of local stocks and continuous inflow of foreign investors.
“As such, expect the FBM KLCI to trade within the range of between 1,565 and 1,585 today,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM8.95, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.55, Petronas Chemicals improved 10 sen to RM9.41, IHH Healthcare up three sen to RM6.40, CIMB gained four sen to RM5.34, and Tenaga perked one sen to RM9.11.
Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange recovered three sen to RM1.03, while ATA IMS was flat at 39.5 sen and NWP reduced half-a-sen to 26 sen.
On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 83.57 points stronger at 11,206.37, FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked up 85.67 points to 11,793.83, FBM 70 advanced 162.72 points to 13,252.94, FBMT 100 Index increased 83.63 points to 10,920.75, and FBM ACE climbed 55.90 points to 5,325.11.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.78 of-a-point to 200.94, the Plantation Index bagged 33.63 points to 7,974.83, and the Financial Services Index added 117.87 points to 16,586.30. — Bernama
