KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, buoyed by supportive local economic policies, positive sentiment from strong technology stocks earnings, and a favourable United States (US) market outlook, an analyst said. Add to that, Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.0 per cent is poised to encourage domestic spending and investment. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 13.47 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at its intraday high of 1,634.17, compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,620.70. The benchmark index opened 3.71 points higher at 1,624.41 and subsequently hit a low of 1,623.52 in early trade before trending upwards toward the closing session. Market breadth was positive, with advancers trumping decliners 849 to 352, while 428 counters were unchanged, 765 untraded, and nine suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.39 billion units
Malaysia's producer price index (PPI), which tracks price changes of goods at the producer level, declined by 2.1% year-on-year in September, marking a downturn after seven consecutive months of growth, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin attributed the biggest decline to the mining sector, which saw a 16.1% drop (August: -8.3%), driven by reductions in the extraction of crude petroleum (-18.6%) and natural gas (-7.9%).
The manufacturing sector also contracted, falling 1.5% (August: +1.0%), largely due to a steep decline in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-18.7%).
In contrast, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector grew by 5.8% (August: 2.7%), with a notable increase in the growing of perennial crops index (11.2%). Utility sectors also showed positive growth, with the water supply index rising 7.8% and the electricity and gas supply index inching up by 0.3%.
On a month-on-month basis, the PPI for local production decreased by 1.5% in September, following a 0.9% decline in August. Most sectors saw a reduction, except for the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector, which posted a 1.6% increase.
For the third quarter of 2024 (3Q2024), the PPI saw a marginal decrease of 0.2%, compared to 1.6% in 2Q2024, primarily due to the performance of the mining sector (-7.7%).
Looking at global trends, US PPI rose at a slower pace of 1.8% in September, while Japan's PPI increased by 2.8%, up from 2.6% in the previous month.
Mohd Uzir also noted that global oil prices settled at US$74 per barrel, the lowest level since December 2021, and crude palm oil prices are projected to stay around RM4,000 per tonne by year-end, with the potential for further increases due to lower production and stock levels.
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