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Market Daily Report: Bursa Malaysia Ends Higher In Line With Most Regional Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Friday in line with most Asian markets, mirroring gains from Wall Street, where investors welcomed the US Federal Reserve's substantial interest rate cut. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 3.17 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,668.82 at the close from Thursday's close of 1,665.65. It opened 5.03 points higher at 1,670.68, trading between 1,668.48 and 1,674.04 throughout the session. In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 732 to 468, while 465 counters were unchanged, 850 untraded and 32 suspended. Turnover swelled to 4.19 billion units worth RM5.97 billion, from Thursday's 3.99 billion units worth RM4.08 billion. UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted the FBM KLCI's gains were led by utilities, logistics, and banking stocks, reflecting improved market sentiment. Additiona
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Microsoft's Azure Growth Slows, Testing Investor Confidence Amid AI Investments

 

Microsoft Corp’s Azure cloud-computing service reported slower quarterly growth, disappointing investors eager for returns from the company’s substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI) products.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Slowing Growth in Azure: Azure's revenue grew by 29% in the fiscal fourth quarter, down from a 31% rise in the previous quarter. AI contributed eight percentage points to this growth, up from seven in the prior period.

  2. Impact on Shares: Microsoft’s shares fell about 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday following the announcement.

  3. AI Investments and Challenges: CEO Satya Nadella has integrated AI technology from OpenAI into Microsoft’s products, including digital assistants called Copilots. However, corporate customers are just starting to adopt these AI assistants, which still face some challenges.

  4. Capital Expenditures: Capital expenditures jumped to $19 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $14 billion in the previous quarter, as Microsoft invests heavily in data centers and servers to meet cloud and AI service demand.

  5. Earnings and Revenue: Total revenue increased by 15% to $64.7 billion in the fourth quarter, with adjusted profit at $2.95 per share, meeting analysts' expectations.

  6. Future Outlook: CFO Amy Hood indicated that while Azure growth would continue to slow in the current quarter, investments in data centers and servers would drive growth acceleration in the second half of fiscal 2025.

  7. Cybersecurity and Gaming: Microsoft’s cybersecurity products and Xbox video-gaming unit showed strong performance, with Defender for Cloud surpassing $1 billion in revenue and a 61% increase in Xbox content and services revenue.

Despite the slowing growth in Azure, Microsoft's significant investments in AI and cloud infrastructure are expected to pay off in the longer term, with a positive outlook for the second half of fiscal 2025.

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