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.
In the second quarter of 2025 , U.S. companies experienced their worst wave of credit downgrades since early 2021 , with US$94 billion of high-grade debt downgraded — outpacing upgrades for the first time in over four years. The downgrade trend is setting off alarms across Wall Street, as investors begin to question whether corporate bonds are priced too optimistically given today’s economic uncertainty. Key Stats That Matter Downgrades: US$94 billion Upgrades: US$78 billion Fallen Angels (cut to junk): US$34 billion Rising Stars (raised to investment grade): US$3 billion High-grade bond spreads: ~0.8% (vs. 1.5% long-term avg) High-yield bond spreads: ~2.8% (vs. 4.9% long-term avg) “Credit picking is super important now. The vulnerability to downgrades is higher.” — Jon Curran, Principal Asset Management Warning Signs Are Flashing More companies are deferring interest payments. 9% of global high-yield borrowers are ...