KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia traded higher on Monday, supported by renewed buying interest in selected banking and telecommunications heavyweights, an analyst said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.69 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,714.79, compared with Friday’s close of 1,708.10. The benchmark index opened 1.60 points higher at 1,709.70 and fluctuated between 1,708.26 and 1,715.29 throughout the trading session. The broader market, however, was negative with losers outpacing gainers 611 to 488, while 580 counters were unchanged, 1,109 untraded and 25 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion from 4.33 billion units valued at RM2.98 billion on Friday.
KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): The FBM KLCI closed down 10.18 points or 0.65% at 1,566.72 today while the FBM ACE was the top percentage gainer after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) cut the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) today to a record low of 1.75%.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 7.78 billion shares worth RM4.93 billion were traded. There were 648 decliners and 428 gainers.
The ACE index closed up 194.09 points or 2.75% at 7,246.90, while the healthcare and REIT indices rose 1.9% and 0.14% respectively.
BNM cut the OPR by 25 bps today to a record low of 1.75%, saying the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy is severe and that Malaysia’s economic activity contracted sharply in the second quarter of the year, due to measures introduced to contain the pandemic.
In a statement today, the central bank said Malaysia’s inflationary pressures are expected to be muted in 2020.
In theory, interest rate cuts are good for equities but bad for currencies.
Source: The Edge

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