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 25): The FBM KLCI extended gains for the second consecutive day today, breaching the 1,700-point mark for the second time within a week, mainly underpinned by foreign funds buying key stocks and improved liquidity.
At 5pm, the benchmark index closed at its intraday high of 1,701.03 points, up 7.44 points or 0.44%. During the midday market break, the index had slipped to as low as 1,695.38 points.
According to Inter-Pacific Securities research head Pong Teng Siew, foreign buying helped prop up the local stock market, as well as the liquidity improvement in the market.
He said foreign funds started coming back to the market, since the second week of this month. “Having said that, I think KLCI is likely to continue to trend upwards, but in a cautious mode, mainly due to local investors taking a wait-to-see approach now, pending a definite picture from the US-China trade spat and also upcoming fourth-quarter earnings results,” Pong added.
Trading volume increased to 2.48 billion shares worth RM2.05 billion, compared with yesterday's 2.44 billion shares worth RM2.12 billion. Gainers led losers by 427 to 352, while 471 counters remained unchanged.
Regionally, Reuters reported Asian stocks rallied to a seven-week high on Friday, buoyed by gains in US technology firms, as pockets of strength in corporate earnings eased some of the anxiety over a slowing global economy.
At the closing bell, Japan's Nikkei 225 grew 0.97%, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.52%. In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.65% and Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite rose 0.39%.
Source: The Edge
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