Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices showed a mixed trend amid caution over president-elect Donald Trump’s potentially inflationary policies and anticipation of further stimulus from China.

“Attention turned to US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming address as markets sought direction on monetary policy, with the Fed reiterating its data-dependent stance after last week’s rate cut,” he told Bernama.

He also said the People’s Bank of China is expected to decide on its loan prime rate next week, though analysts are uncertain of more cuts given the larger-than-expected rate decrease in October.

“Additionally, Beijing is expected to outline more stimulus measures during two key political meetings in December,” he added.

Back home, Thong has maintained a cautious stance as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) remains in consolidation, showing no clear signs of an uptrend.

“The market appears to be trading sideways, with limited catalysts to spur a breakout.

“As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the 1,600-1,630 range for the week,” he said.

Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI ended the day on a positive note, driven by robust inflows from domestic investors.

He said gains were led by aluminium-related stocks, following China’s recent decision to abolish tax rebates on aluminium exports.

On Nov 15, China’s finance ministry announced the cancellation of the 13% export tax rebate on aluminium, effective Dec 1, 2024.

Sedek said the sectoral performance of Bursa also reflected Malaysia’s economic resilience.

“The plantation and industrial products and services indices outperformed, supported by Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the third quarter of 2024 released last Friday.

“These data emphasised the manufacturing and agriculture sectors’ pivotal contributions to sustaining economic growth,” he added.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 11.6 points to close at 1,604.04 from Friday’s close of 1,592.44.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.47 of a point higher at 1,592.91, moved between 1,591.49 and 1,605.41 during the trading session.

However, the broader market was mixed to weaker, with decliners leading gainers by 529 to 484 while 486 counters remained unchanged, 958 untraded, and 15 suspended.

Turnover expanded to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.23 billion versus 2.68 billion units valued at RM2.65 billion last Friday.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Bank perked up 2 sen to RM8.21, Public Bank increased 3 sen to RM4.50, Tenaga Nasional added 16 sen to RM14.36, while Maybank eased 2 sen to RM10.34 and IHH Healthcare inched down 1 sen to RM7.22.

As for the active stocks, Top Glove added 1 sen to RM1.11, Johor Plantations gained 5 sen to RM1.38, Cape EMS lost 1.5 sen to 38 sen, while Classita and EA Holdings were flat at 6.5 sen and 0.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 90.32 points to 12,113.62, the FBM Emas Index expanded 67.54 points to 12,172.86, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 69.62 points to 11,875.82, the FBM ACE Index gained 27.93 points to 5,175.09, and the FBM 70 Index rose 45.01 points to 17,863.89.

Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index edged up 1.98 points to 170.25, the energy index picked up 0.7 of-a-point to 827.87, the plantation index surged 79.31 points to 7,705.49, and the financial services index increased 53.7 points to 19,210.54.

The Main Market volume increased to 1.6 billion units worth RM1.99 billion against Friday’s 1.33 billion units worth RM2.39 billion.

Warrants turnover climbed to 860.16 million units valued at RM116.59 million from 811.06 million units valued at RM98.18 million previously.

The ACE Market volume declined to 491.39 million units worth RM125.59 million compared with 534.84 million units worth RM163.1 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 659.26 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (292.49 million), construction (71.09 million), technology (95.6 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (75.08 million), property (114.87 million), plantation (57.55 million), REITs (18.5 million), closed/fund (25,000), energy (70.01 million), healthcare (71.42 million), telecommunications and media (18.71 million), transportation and logistics (24.65 million), utilities (32.98 million), and business trusts (44,500).