Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower as traders were seeking cues on the upcoming United States (US) Producer Price Index data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate moves, said an analyst.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 5.51 points to 1,635.43 compared to Thursday’s close of 1,640.94.

The benchmark index, which had opened 5.15 points lower at 1,635.79, traded between 1,635.21 and 1,643.07 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 512 to 334, with 461 counters unchanged, 1,146 untraded and nine suspended. 

Turnover amounted to 1.25 billion units valued at RM1.34 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said markets are pricing in an over 80 per cent chance of a 25 basis points cut at the November US Federal Open Market Committee meeting. 

“In the commodities market, Brent crude oil surged over three per cent, driven by ongoing concerns in the Middle East and expectations of rising energy demand in the US and China following the release of stimulus packages,” it said in a note today. 

Back home, the brokerage firm expects traders to position themselves ahead of Budget 2025, particularly in the e-invoicing, construction, property, building materials, utilities, and consumer sectors, as speculation grows around potential mega projects and realignment of subsidies.

“We also anticipate a decent rebound from plantation as well as oil and gas stocks due to the spike in crude oil and crude palm oil prices,” it added. 

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.56, CIMB added nine sen to RM8.17, and Tenaga Nasional rose four sen to RM14.42. However, Public Bank lost 20 sen to RM4.37, and IHH Healthcare fell two sen to RM7.24.  

Of the active counters, MY EG edged up one sen to 94.5 sen, and Top Glove gained four sen to RM1.07. Pertama Digital was 2.5 sen lower to 28.5 sen, Bina Puri eased one sen to 36 sen, and Velocity Capital shed half-a-sen to 4.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 28.13 points to 12,289.11, the FBMT 100 Index fell by 26.98 points to 11,987.61, and the FBM ACE Index slid 37.18 points to 5,113.56.

Meanwhile, the FBM 70 Index gained 10.12 points to 17,588.62, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 1.88 points to 12,212.11.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index shrank 8.78 points to 7,190.77, the Energy Index declined by 3.23 points to 878.65, the Financial Services Index dipped 94.80 points to 19,208.46, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.08 points higher to 175.90.

-- BERNAMA