Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, In Sync With Wall Street

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, in sync with Wall Street's strong performance last Friday after the latest United States (US) personal consumption expenditure (PCE) for June came in within market expectations.

According to the US Commerce Department, the PCE price index increased by 0.1 per cent month-on-month and up 2.5 per cent year-on-year in June, in line with the market consensus.

At 9.12 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.89 points to 1,618.77 from last Friday's close of 1,612.88. The index opened 4.28 points higher at 1,617.16. 

On the broader market, gainers led losers 280 versus 139, with 343 counters unchanged, 1,749 untraded and 77 suspended.

Turnover stood at 352.85 million units worth RM133.41 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that Wall Street ended higher as investors returned to tech heavyweights that had triggered broad sell-offs earlier last week.

It noted that the core PCE was in line with expectations, boosting expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve soon.

In a note today, the stockbroking company said this week, traders will be monitoring the China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), US home sales, US jobs data, and US ISM Manufacturing PMI.

“Despite the weaker tone in the US, we expect this could be a buying opportunity with the rebound on Friday. We believe buying interest may centre around the data centre catalyst, with a focus on the construction, property, utilities, building materials, and technology sectors," it said.

Additionally, Malacca Securities expects traders to stake their position ahead of the earnings seasons within the consumer, shipping, and financial sectors in view of more resilient results in the near term. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank increased 4.0 sen to RM10.18, Tenaga Nasional added 12.0 sen to RM14.14 and CIMB Group perked by 3.0 sen to RM7.20, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.21 and RM6.26, respectively.

Among the actives, Velocity Capital Partner inched up 1.0 sen to 7.0 sen and Dagang NeXchange gained 2.0 sen to 43.5 sen, while Ekovest decreased 1.5 sen to 45.0 sen, Focus Dynamics Group edged down half-a-sen to 1.5 sen and HB Global was flat at 14.0 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index put on 43.79 points to 12,507.52, the FBMT 100 Index improved 43.22 points to 12,093.78, the FBM Emas Shariah Index picked up 44.46 points to 12,785.61 and the FBM 70 Index advanced 63.62 points to 18,593.77, while the FBM ACE Index shed 14.97 points to 5,779.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index ticked up by 36.38 points to 18,008.30, the Healthcare Index was 5.48 points better to 2,157.19, the Construction Index expanded by 1.49 points to 305.84, and the Plantation Index widened by 4.26 points to 7,148.45.

-- BERNAMA