KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia's key index closed at an intraday high today, supported by continued buying interest even as renewed geopolitical tensions and a weaker overnight lead from Wall Street following the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to stand pat on interest rates weighed on broader sentiment. The Fed has decided to hold rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting, with the Federal Funds Rate unchanged between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.84 points to 1,720.40 from yesterday’s close of 1,715.56. The benchmark index, which opened 1.14 points lower at 1,714.42, hit its lowest level of 1,710.69 in early trade before gaining momentum for the rest of the day. However, the broader market was negative with losers outpacing gainers 581 to 411, while 612 counters were unchanged, 1,173 untraded, and 87 suspended. Turnover declined to 2.49 billion units valued at RM2.25 billion from ...
KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): The FBM KLCI finished up 7.88 points or 0.49% today, led by AMMB Holdings Bhd share price rise and as investors took cue from overnight US equity gains as they tried to predict the quantum of future US interest rate cuts.
At 5pm today, the KLCI closed up at 1,602.47, led by component AMMB Holdings Bhd's (AmBank) 24 sen or 6.15% rise to RMRM4.14. AMMB was the top percentage gainer among the 30 KLCI stocks.
AMMB shares rose after the financial services provider reported earlier today first quarter net profit climbed to RM391.46 million from RM347.59 million a year earlier. Revenue was higher at RM2.39 billion from RM2.17 billion, AMMB said.
The KLCI closed higher today after falling 8.16 points or 0.51% to 1,594.59 yesterday. Today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com there is hope for further recovery in the KLCI after he noted that the index had nearly recovered yesterday's loss.
“Should it continue to hold 1,600 over the near term, the KLCI may stage further recovery, targeting the 1,620 and 1,635 levels,” he said.
Today, the KLCI closed higher following overnight US equity gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.93%, S&P 500 rose 0.82% while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9%.
Reuters reported that Wall Street's main indexes rose on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from retailers pointed to strength in US consumer demand, and held gains after minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers had debated a more aggressive interest rate cut.
It was reported that minutes from the Fed's policy-setting meeting on July 30-31, when the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points, showed that policymakers debated cutting rates more aggressively. It was reported that some participants preferred a 50-basis-point cut, but the committee was united in wanting to avoid the appearance of being on a path to further rate cuts.
Source: The Edge
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