KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
As expected, the meeting today had an outcome...Bank Negara Malaysia decided to raise the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) to 3.25%. The 25 basis points increase is the first in 3 years and has been expected by the market. The floor and ceiling rates of the corridor for the OPR has increased to 3% and 3.5% respectively. The Monetary Policy Committee believes that the country economy is going for a steady growth part. As to inflationary pressures, it said inflation has been relatively stable as the effects of the price adjustments for utilities and energy continue to moderate. Demand driven inflation remains contained. “Looking ahead, inflation is, however, expected to remain above its long-run average due to the higher domestic cost factors.” The increased in OPR will eventually effect commercial banks' Base Lending Rate. It will be interesting to see how the effect will impact the household in the country.