KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday amid mixed regional market performance as investors turned cautious over a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and upcoming US economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision next week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most earlier losses to settle 4.55 points easier, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,616.52 from Thursday’s close of 1,621.07. The benchmark index, which opened 0.37 of-a-point lower at 1,620.70, moved between 1,609.67 and 1,621.25 throughout the day. The broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 604 to 439. A total of 550 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from 4.48 billion units worth RM2.75 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-presiden...
KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rose 13.84 points or 0.78% to close at 1,776.95 as market sentiment was boosted by the strong overnight performance on Wall Street on positive jobs data.
"Payroll numbers in the US were better than expected, so the market's performance was riding on that momentum and the anticipation of what should be a positive US jobs report to be released later this evening," said Etiqa Insurance head of research at Chris Eng.
Reuters said ADP reported private payrolls grew by 253,000 last month, beating analysts' median forecast of a 185,000 increase. If the US government's payroll report for May were to show another solid pickup in hiring, it would cement expectations that a rate hike in less than two weeks is a done deal.
"The big, medium and small cap indexes saw positive performance today as well," Eng added.
The broader market saw gainers leading losers at 732 to 247, with 318 counters closing unchanged.
Some 2.46 billion shares valued at RM2.58 billion changed hands.
Top gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, while top losers were Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd and Ajinomoto (M) Bhd.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average broke through the 20,000-point level for the first time since December 2015 as strong US economic data and a weaker yen boosted investor confidence, Reuters reported.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.16% to 2,371.72 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.44% at 25,924.05.
Source: The Edge
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