KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended marginally lower on Monday amid selling activity as the market lacked fresh catalysts to spur investors’ buying interest, an analyst said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.60 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 1,670.02, from Friday’s close of 1,671.62. The benchmark index, which opened 0.93 of-a-point higher at 1,672.55, moved between 1,668.61 and 1,674.11 throughout the trading session. Market breadth was negative as losers surpassed gainers 748 to 388, while 517 counters were unchanged, 1,271 untraded and 91 suspended. Turnover slipped to 3.11 billion units worth RM2.40 billion from 4.07 billion units valued at RM2.69 billion on Friday.
Goldman Sachs predicts that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will implement a series of consecutive 25-basis-point (bps) interest rate cuts starting from November 2024 through June 2025, bringing the terminal rate to a range of 3.25% to 3.5% . This comes after the Fed's recent half-point rate cut in September, which signaled growing confidence that inflation is on track to reach its 2% target . Currently, the overnight rate stands at 4.75%-5.00% , guiding interbank lending rates and affecting broader consumer interest rates. According to CME's Fedwatch Tool , markets are pricing in a 94.1% chance of a 25 bps cut at the Fed's next meeting. In addition to the Fed forecast, Goldman Sachs also expects the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut interest rates by 25 bps during its upcoming monetary policy meeting, with further cuts projected until the ECB's policy rate reaches 2% by June 2025.