KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to close higher on Wednesday on selective buying of defensive stocks after a volatile trading session. IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said consumer products and services stocks lifted the key index higher, overcoming lingering geopolitical concerns. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.08 points to 1,715.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,712.48. The benchmark index, which opened 1.91 points higher at 1,714.39, moved between 1,710.79 and 1,720.59 during the day’s trading. In the broader market, gainers outstripped decliners 550 to 476, while 612 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded, and 48 suspended. Turnover rose to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion from 2.94 billion units valued at RM2.56 billion on Tuesday.
Producer Prices Continue to Fall Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 4.2% year-on-year in June , marking the fourth straight month of decline and the steepest fall since June 2023. The decrease was broad-based, with significant deflation in: Mining: -8.0% YoY (crude petroleum -6.7%, natural gas -12.0%) Manufacturing: -4.3% YoY (notably coke and refined petroleum -17.7%, electronics -7.8%) Agriculture: -0.3% YoY, the first drop since November 2023, driven by weaker animal production prices. On a monthly basis, PPI slipped 0.7% in June , with declines in manufacturing, agriculture, and electricity prices, while mining prices rebounded sharply by 4.6% . CPI-PPI Gap Widens Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth slowed further to 1.1% YoY in June, the lowest since February 2021. This widened the gap between consumer inflation and producer price deflation, highlighting weak cost pass-through at the wholesale level despite...