KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed higher, buoyed by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent, alongside positive cues from Wall Street. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 19.30 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 1,635.86 from Wednesday’s close of 1,616.56. The benchmark index opened 6.72 points higher at 1,623.28, and fluctuated between an intraday high of 1,642.44 and a low of 1,622.62 during the trading session. However, market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 723 to 497, while 466 counters were unchanged, 1,075 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover rose to 3.74 billion units valued at RM3.61 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.81 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion.
According to Deloitte, British consumer sentiment fell by 2.6 percentage points in Q2 — marking the sharpest drop since 2022 and hitting its lowest point since early 2024 . What's Driving the Decline? Job Security Fears Consumers are getting nervous as unemployment hits 4.7% — the highest since 2021. Companies are cutting back on hiring, partly due to: Higher employment taxes Minimum wage hikes (April) Stricter employee protection laws Cost-of-Living Pressure Inflation is back at 3.6% (June) — making daily expenses heavier and pushing debt sentiment lower . Mixed Signals from the Economy Interestingly, while consumers feel worse, Deloitte notes business confidence is rising (per their CFO survey). And another sentiment tracker (GfK) showed improvement. “We’re seeing resilience in the face of global uncertainty,” said Deloitte’s chief economist Ian Stewart. But make no mistake — this drop in confidence i...