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.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) reported a better-than-expected 39% increase in quarterly revenue , easing concerns that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware is tapering off. The chipmaker posted September-quarter sales of NT$759.7 billion (US$23.6 billion or RM101.1 billion) , surpassing analysts' projections of NT$748 billion. Full results will be disclosed next Thursday. As the primary chip supplier for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc , TSMC has seen its sales more than double since 2020, driven by the rise in AI development, especially following the launch of ChatGPT . TSMC's market value briefly surpassed US$1 trillion in July , reflecting optimism about the ongoing demand for AI chips. Despite skepticism from some investors about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending by companies like Meta and Google, TSMC remains optimistic , with high-performance computing now accounting for more than half of its revenue. The company lifted its 2024 re...