Bursa Rises After Soft Start, Tracks Wall Street Gains

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia edged slightly higher on Thursday after a weak start, as investors took a cautious cue from Wall Street’s overnight gains ahead of a closely watched tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.06 of a point to 1,541.54 from Wednesday’s close of 1,541.48.

The benchmark index had earlier opened 0.98 of a point lower at 1,540.50.

Market breadth was slightly negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 176 to 131. A total of 261 counters were unchanged, 1,937 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 139 million shares worth RM68.11 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the stronger overnight performance on Wall Street was buoyed by an additional US$100 billion investment by Apple Inc, bringing its total planned spending to US$600 billion over the next few years.

“However, investors remain cautious on the latest report that Trump may impose a 100 per cent tariff on imported semiconductors.

“Additionally, trading has been lacklustre due to the absence of fresh catalysts. Therefore, we expect the local bourse to mirror this trend and anticipate the index to hover within the 1,535–1,545 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional gained two sen each to RM9.65 and RM13.20, respectively, while Public Bank, CIMB and IHH Healthcare fell two sen each to RM4.28, RM6.79 and RM6.93.

On the actively traded list, Pharmaniaga and SNS Network Technology inched down one sen each to 17.5 sen and 51 sen, TWL was flat at 2.5 sen, while Inari Amertron added three sen to RM1.89, and Top Glove rose half a sen to 62 sen.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.75 points to 11,530.15, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 2.42 points to 11,301.44, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched up 1.17 points to 11,537.76.

The FBM 70 Index declined 15.92 points to 16,543.14, while the FBM ACE Index edged down 2.48 points to 4,598.41.

By sector, the Financial Services Index eased 1.63 points to 17,541.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 0.23 of a point to 157.53, the Energy Index shed 2.21 points to 735.41, and the Plantation Index slipped 2.42 points to 7,345.29.

-- BERNAMA