BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS HIGHER AS US INTEREST RATE CUT LIFTS REGIONAL SENTIMENT

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Thursday on persistent buying interest as the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate cut by half a percentage point lifted regional market sentiment.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 5.06 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,665.65 at the close.  It opened 2.68 points higher at 1,663.27 and moved between 1,657.13 and 1,665.84 throughout the day.

Gainers trounced decliners in the broader market 898 to 322 while 392 counters were unchanged, 893 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover jumped to 3.99 billion units worth RM4.08 billion from 2.30 billion units worth RM2.75 billion on Wednesday. 

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that the FBM KLCI concluded today’s trading session with a modest uptick, primarily buoyed by gains within the utility and industrial sectors. However, he said the technology and construction indices showed substantial upward momentum, each registering an increase of over 2.5 per cent with the mid and small-cap stocks tracking the advance.

"While it may be premature to definitively attribute these gains solely to the interest rate cut by the Fed, there is no doubt that this policy adjustment has significantly improved overall market sentiment, fostering greater investor confidence and driving up stock prices across various sectors,” he told Bernama.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the Fed's 50-basis-point reduction, its first in over four years, was expected by traders.

"On the domestic front, we believe the sentiment on the local market will remain positive following the good news from the US. We hope this will entice more participants to the market, thus enhancing the market trading volume. We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,660-1,680 points towards the weekend,” he added.

Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 rallied 2.13 per cent to 37,155.33, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.0 per cent to 18,013.16, Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 1.13 per cent to 3,633.18 and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index bagged 0.97 per cent to 7,905.39. 

Among Bursa Malaysia's heavyweight counters, IHH Healthcare rose four sen to RM7.15, Petronas Chemicals jumped 12 sen to RM5.64 and CelcomDigi added five sen to RM3.80. Maybank and CIMB declined four sen each to RM10.64 and RM8.29, respectively, while Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.69.

Ace Market debutant Solar District Cooling topped the active counters, surging 12.5 sen, or 32.89 per cent, to 50.5 sen, Globetronics gained seven sen to 60.5 sen and Genetec was five sen higher at 23.5 sen. MyEG was flat at 95.5 sen and Top Glove eased three sen to RM1.04. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 84.73 points to 12,488.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 120.44 points to 12,379.08, and the FBMT 100 Index added 72.01 points to 12,187.81.  

The FBM 70 Index jumped 235.30 points to 17,803.26 and the FBM ACE Index rallied 92.57 points to 5,179.38.    

By sector, the Financial Services Index fell 44.61 points to 19,615.48, the Energy Index grew 12.83 points to 875.10, the Plantation Index went up 22.93 points to 7,187.13 while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 3.35 points to 179.43.   

The Main Market volume was higher at 2.16 billion units worth RM3.74 billion from 1.59 billion units worth RM2.62 billion on Wednesday.   

Warrant turnover was sharply higher at 1.28 billion units worth RM145.78 million from 421.13 million units valued at RM39.83 million yesterday.    

The ACE Market volume widened to 554.21 million units worth RM196.59 million from 286.10 million units worth RM91.29 million.   

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 332.77 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (367.51 million), construction (194.69 million), technology (402.60 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (145.50 million), property (247.29 million), plantation (15.52 million), REITs (18.93 million), closed/fund (115.51), energy (115.51 million), healthcare (129.26 million), telecommunications and media (47.28 million), transportation and logistics (35.59 million), utilities (102.72 million), and business trusts (220,800).

-- BERNAMA