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.
Investors anticipated that strong earnings from tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms would fuel a rally in the S&P 500. However, despite meeting or exceeding expectations, these results failed to justify the high valuations of the "Magnificent 7" tech stocks. Consequently, the Magnificent 7 index dropped by 1.8% last week, with only Amazon and Alphabet seeing gains. The main issue is the uncertain profit outlook for 2025 , especially as tech companies ramp up heavy spending on AI infrastructure . Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta collectively spent a record $59 billion on capital expenditures last quarter, with plans to continue significant investment in AI computing power. Key takeaways: Microsoft's AI business expects to reach a $10 billion annual revenue rate, yet this growth comes with high costs , leading to a narrow commercial cloud margin. Microsoft’s shares dropped 6.1% after its earnings report due to concerns over...