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.
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd saw their most significant rise in two months as investors welcomed the e-commerce giant’s plan to increase service fees for merchants. Key Points: Stock Performance: Alibaba’s shares gained as much as 5.8% in Hong Kong. The stock was the biggest gainer on the Hang Seng Index, which itself was up by as much as 2%. New Service Fee Structure: Alibaba will implement a basic software service fee of 0.6% on confirmed transactions for vendors on Tmall and Taobao platforms starting September 1. This change was communicated to merchants on Friday. Small merchants may be exempt from the new fee. Revenue Impact: The new measure is expected to boost Alibaba’s core merchant revenue. Alibaba’s current revenue from Taobao and Tmall mainly comes from customer management fees, which merchants pay for advertising and better tailoring their offerings. Industry Context: Alibaba is the last major e-commerce platform to shift to a percentage-based fee structure. PDD Hold...