KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Wednesday, with the key index rising 1.10 per cent, in line with firm gains across regional markets following a strong rally on Wall Street overnight, said an analyst. IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the improvement in sentiment was underpinned by easing geopolitical concerns and a decline in oil prices. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increase 18.54 points or 1.10 per cent to 1,708.90 from Tuesday’s close of 1,690.36. The benchmark index opened 25.58 points higher at 1,715.94, marking its intraday high, and hit a low of 1,700.20 during the mid-morning session. The broader market was positive, with gainers leading decliners 780 to 444. A total of 475 counters were unchanged, 926 untraded and 11 suspended.
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): The FBM KLCI fell 14.54 points or 0.91% today to close at its intraday low at 1,574.9 after the broader market reacted to weaker US manufacturing data, which underscored the impact of the US-China trade war on the US economy.
Reuters reported that global equity selling was triggered after the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) index of factory activity, one of the most closely-watched data on US manufacturing, dropped 1.3 points to 47.8, the lowest level since June 2009.
It was reported that a reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector.
"Markets had been expecting the index to rise back above 50. Global shares fell to one-month lows on Wednesday after US manufacturing activity tumbled to more than a decade low, sparking worries that the fallout from the US-China trade war is spreading to the US economy," Reuters said.
In Malaysia today, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong Teck Meng said "the slump in manufacturing activity would trigger the question of whether the (economic) slowdown is faster than expected".
Across Bursa Malaysia, a total of 1.85 billion shares were traded for RM1.44 billion.
Selling was broad-based across Bursa indices except for the REIT, utilities and technology gauges. Major decliners included the plantation and energy indices, which closed down 1.5% and 1.05% respectively.
Bursa top stock decliners included KLCI counters Public Bank Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd.
The most-active stocks included Bumi Armada Bhd, which registered a volume at some 61 million shares. Bumi Armada's share price closed down one sen or 3.13% at 31 sen.
Source: The Edge
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