Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced by 0.52% after the softening of US preliminary purchasing managers index data highlighted that interest rate upcycles may be reaching a tipping point.
On the home front, strong buying interest continued to nudge the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) higher with the moderating inflationary pressure in June also providing a near-term impetus to the local bourse, it added.
Yesterday, the statistics department reported that the consumer price index (CPI) continued to ease in June to 2.4%, the lowest level recorded so far in 2023.
“The lower liners, however, endured another session of weakness on the back of extended profit-taking, which we deemed to be healthy at this point of time, premised on the overbought conditions,” it said in a note today.
Rakuten Trade research head Kenny Yee said that buying interest may focus on plantation and oil and gas stocks today as prices of both commodities ended firmer.
“The crude palm oil price remains at around RM4,000 per tonne while the Brent crude oil price trended around US$83 (RM371.59) per barrel on tightening supply,” he said.
“Nonetheless, we prefer to remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision on interest rate, and anticipate the benchmark index to hover within the 1,420-1,430 range today,” he added.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.23 points to 1,428.92 from 1,424.69 at yesterday’s close.
The key index opened 1.07 points higher at 1,425.76.
The broader market was also positive as advancers edged past decliners 172 to 107, while 235 counters were unchanged, 1,779 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 209.21 million units worth RM85.81 million.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 3 sen to RM8.95, CIMB rose 5 sen to RM5.40, Petronas Chemicals gained 3 sen to RM6.53, Public Bank was flat at RM3.98, and Tenaga Nasional declined 2 sen to RM9.44.
Of the actives, newly-listed MYMBN bagged 8.5 sen to 29.5 sen, Velesto Energy was flat at 23 sen, Classita Holdings eased 0.5 sen to 14.5 sen, CTOS Digital eased 1 sen to RM1.38, and Pestech International shed 2 sen to 27.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 27.86 points to 10,534.94, the FBMT 100 Index was 27.17 points better at 10,223.06, the FBM 70 Index perked up 23.881 points to 13,922.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 18.89 points to 10,829.77, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 2.47 points to 5,322.33.
Sector-wise, the financial services index garnered 64.33 points to 15,886.62, the energy index rose 5.92 points to 829.53, the industrial products and services index improved 0.62 of-a-point to 163.6, and the plantation index increased 9.09 points to 7,144.40.