KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index kick-started the week on a positive note but eased thereafter due to a lack of support, tracking the bearish Wall Street amid expectations that the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) may delay rate cuts.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 0.43 of-a-point to 1,617.43 from Friday’s close of 1,617.86.

The barometer index opened 1.38 points higher at 1,619.24.

However, on the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 259 to 201, with 368 counters unchanged, 1,570 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover totalled 297.44 million units worth RM116.27 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed lower on Friday due to sentiments being affected by better-than-expected US job data in May, which increased uncertainties about the Fed’s stance on interest rates.

Additionally, a dip in oil prices contributed to the downtrend.

Nevertheless, he said the local market may move in the 1,615-1,625 range as the recent move by the European Central Bank to cut interest rate is a positive indicator that global central banks are beginning to detach themselves from the US Fed.

“Post-results for the second quarter period, we noticed that many research houses had upgraded their respective 2024 target for the index, thus indicating that the market still has the legs to trend higher,” he noted.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Gas bagged 22 sen to RM18.50, Tenaga Nasional was two sen higher at RM13.78, while Maybank, Public Bank and IHH were flat at RM10, RM4.11 and RM6.24, respectively.

As for the actives, Alam Maritim, Widad and Leform rose half-a-sen each to three sen, 8.5 sen and 17 sen, respectively, while YNH Property increased 5.5 sen to 69.5 sen and Siab went up two sen to 15.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 1.46 points to 12,358.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 8.73 points to 12,662.26, the FBM 70 Index garnered 2.79 points to 17,797.67 and the FBM ACE Index added 8.99 points to 5,586.31, while the FBMT 100 Index decreased 1.83 points to 11,938.63.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index edged up 0.70 of-a-point to 17,642.97, the Plantation Index put on 0.89 of-a-point to 7,146.22 and the Energy Index edged up 4.61 points to 973.84, while the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.26 of-a-point to 197.39. — Bernama