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.
Forget the noisy job stats — watch the earnings season. That’s the key takeaway from Barron’s latest analysis as investors try to decode the U.S. economic trajectory amid sticky inflation, demographic shifts, and tariff overhangs. Employment Data: More Smoke Than Signal June’s payrolls beat expectations (147,000 vs. 106,000 consensus), but dig deeper and the quality weakens: Private sector added just 74,000 jobs. 63,000 of the gains came from state/local education due to seasonal quirks , not actual hiring. Hours worked and weekly earnings fell — a red flag for consumer income. Labor-force participation slid to 62.3%, with Boomers and Gen-Xers retiring faster. The over-55 participation rate hit a 19-year low (38%). I nsight : Weak labor input + modest wage growth = flat real income = headwinds for consumption and services. Corporate Earnings: The Real Economic Pulse Torsten Sløk (Apollo Global Mgmt) says Q2 earnings will...