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 (Jan 5): The FBM KLCI closed 14.52 points or 0.8% higher as anticipation of Malaysia's 14th general election (GE14) in 2018 and a stronger ringgit drove investors’ sentiment.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at its intraday high of 1,817.97 points.
In currency markets, the ringgit appreciated to 3.9975 against the US dollar at 5:50pm after trading between 3.9887 and 4.0055 today.
“The (stock market) rally is expected to firm up towards GE14 and people are buying on stronger ringgit," Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd retail research analyst Loui Low Ley Yee told theedgemarkets.com.
Low said Malaysian shares' "near-term performance depends on corporate results (announcements) in February." He said "if earnings are weak, there might be a (stock market) consolidation.”
Across Bursa Malaysia today, trading volume was 5.84 billion shares worth RM3.94 billion.
Notable gainers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd.
Sapura Energy Bhd was the most-actively traded counte with some 332 million shares transacted. Sapura Energy rose 9.5 sen to 81 sen.
Source: The Edge
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