Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the US added 336,000 jobs in September, surpassing the expectation of 170,000 jobs, thus maintaining its unemployment rate at 3.8%.
“However, it is still unclear whether the US Federal Reserve will adjust the interest rate; consensus reckons it will remain status quo,” he told Bernama.
Back home, he noted that although the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended in positive territory last Friday, traders remained cautious.
“Nonetheless, we believe recent statements by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that more inflow of foreign investments may be announced soon could spur buying interests and support the local bourse.
“Hence, we believe the index will hover in the 1,415-1,425 range today,” he said.
At 9.31am, the FBM KLCI rose 3.29 points to 1,420.17 from last Friday’s closing of 1,416.88.
The index opened 0.18 of-a-point higher at 1,417.06.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 266 to 209, while 327 counters were unchanged, 1,508 untraded and eight suspended.
Turnover stood at 406.73 million units worth RM199.27 million.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals improved 1 sen each to RM8.78, RM4.04 and RM7.11, respectively, CIMB added 3 sen to RM5.45, while Tenaga Nasional lost 7 sen to RM9.95.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy inched up 0.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Widad Group and Sarawak Consolidated eased 0.5 sen each to 53 sen and 49.5 sen, respectively, while Tanco and Kinergy Advancement were flat at 55.5 sen and 33.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 24.47 points to 10,528.31, the FBMT 100 Index increased 24.12 points to 10,193.76, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 19.82 points to 10,813.91, the FBM ACE Index gained 3.87 points to 5,154.38 and the FBM 70 Index perked 35.40 points to 14,027.57.
Sector-wise, the financial services index advanced 35.46 points to 15,905.05, the energy index went up 16.88 points to 866.82, and the plantation index strengthened 25.22 points to 6,862.42.
However, the industrial products and services index eased 0.04 of-a-point to 170.78.