KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Bursa Malaysia stayed lower at midday, in sync with the regional market performance as the hotter-than-expected United States (US) consumer price index (CPI) data raised concerns about a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed).
At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.03 points to 1,442.79 from Thursday’s closing of 1,443.82.
The index, which opened 0.45 points of-a-point lower at 1,443.37 this morning, moved between 1,440.49 and 1,444.57 during the session.
On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 415 to 331, while 428 counters were unchanged, 1,180 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.66 billion units worth RM888.78 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors could be pricing in the more hawkish US Fed and tighter-for-longer monetary policies going forward.
“Although selling pressure was seen on Wall Street overnight, we believe buying interest may persist and traders may be positioning ahead of the Budget 2024 speech.
“We believe the market will continue banking on the current momentum within the construction, property and building material sectors, in anticipation of more infrastructure projects to be dished out,” it said.
Additionally, the brokerage firm also likes the renewable energy and utilities sectors as some of the policies may point towards the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 in Budget 2024.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals rose eight sen to RM7.35, while Maybank and CIMB slid one sen each to RM8.98, and RM5.65, respectively, Public Bank lost three sen to RM4.15 and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM10.00.
Of the actives, UEM Sunrise went up 1.5 sen to 86 sen and Widad inched up half-a-sen to 55 sen, while Sapura Energy, Sarawak Consolidated and UCREST were flat at five sen, 51.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.39 points to 10,693.92, the FBMT 100 Index declined 2.30 points to 10,355.23, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 21.63 points to 5,156.14, while the FBM 70 Index expanded 19.04 points to 14,245.92 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 9.66 points to 10,930.43.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 10.32 points to 6,857.09 and the Industrial Products Services Index edged up 0.61 of-a-point to 174.65, while the Financial Services Index narrowed 33.84 points to 16,244.68, the Consumer Products and Services Index contracted 0.19 of-a-point to 553.74, and the Energy Index was marginally lower by 0.18 of-a-point to 875.27. — Bernama
