KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to close higher on Wednesday on selective buying of defensive stocks after a volatile trading session. IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said consumer products and services stocks lifted the key index higher, overcoming lingering geopolitical concerns. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.08 points to 1,715.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,712.48. The benchmark index, which opened 1.91 points higher at 1,714.39, moved between 1,710.79 and 1,720.59 during the day’s trading. In the broader market, gainers outstripped decliners 550 to 476, while 612 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded, and 48 suspended. Turnover rose to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion from 2.94 billion units valued at RM2.56 billion on Tuesday.
The US market opened lower on Tuesday as weak Chinese data brings back the fear of a global economic slowdown.
Reuters reported that China's February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years. The data weighed on markets worldwide.
It is obvious that people are still very nervous and the market is in such a fragile state that any bad news could easily break it. Crude prices also shed their gains and were down about 2%.
Oil has recovered from the 2016 low touched in January, but Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday said the recent rally was premature as prices would need to remain lower to help rebalance the market later in the year.
At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 84.02 points, or 0.49%, at 16,989.93, the S&P 500 was down 13.35 points, or 0.67%, at 1,988.41 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 35.30 points, or 0.75%, at 4,672.95.
Investors are focusing on data for clues on the state of the global economy and monetary policies of central banks across the world.
The European Central Bank is expected to announce further stimulus at its meeting later this week.
In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve is looking to raise interest rates this year as a raft of data suggested the economic recovery in the United States was gaining momentum.
The positive sentiment helped the S&P 500 to its first five-day streak of gains since October and close above 2,000 for the first time since Jan. 5 on Monday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,973 to 665. On the Nasdaq, 1,607 issues fell and 602 advanced.
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It is obvious that people are still very nervous and the market is in such a fragile state that any bad news could easily break it. Crude prices also shed their gains and were down about 2%.
Oil has recovered from the 2016 low touched in January, but Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday said the recent rally was premature as prices would need to remain lower to help rebalance the market later in the year.
At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 84.02 points, or 0.49%, at 16,989.93, the S&P 500 was down 13.35 points, or 0.67%, at 1,988.41 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 35.30 points, or 0.75%, at 4,672.95.
Investors are focusing on data for clues on the state of the global economy and monetary policies of central banks across the world.
The European Central Bank is expected to announce further stimulus at its meeting later this week.
In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve is looking to raise interest rates this year as a raft of data suggested the economic recovery in the United States was gaining momentum.
The positive sentiment helped the S&P 500 to its first five-day streak of gains since October and close above 2,000 for the first time since Jan. 5 on Monday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,973 to 665. On the Nasdaq, 1,607 issues fell and 602 advanced.

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