Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower After US Fed Stands Pat
By Zufazlin Baharuddin
KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, taking cues from dampened sentiment on US Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) kept interest rates steady at its latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Besides that, the US strikes on Iran, following an attack on a US military base in Jordan, might also weigh on the local bourse.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid by 2.68 points to 1,712.88 from yesterday’s close of 1,715.56.
The benchmark index opened 1.14 points lower at 1,714.42.
The broader market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 239 to 76, while 237 counters were unchanged, 2,225 untraded, and 87 suspended.
Turnover totalled 98.08 million shares worth RM56.55 million.
The Fed has decided to hold rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting, with the Federal Funds Rate unchanged between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said US Wall Street closed sharply lower as traders were unconvinced of the Fed’s policy in fighting inflation by maintaining interest rates unchanged for now.
“In addition, the uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz remains as crude oil prices escalate with Brent hitting above US$90 per barrel (at a point),” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional eased 14 sen to RM14.46, CIMB shed two sen to RM7.79, and IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM8.35, while Maybank and Public Bank added two sen each to RM10.88 and RM5.17, respectively.
Among active stocks, Marine & General expanded one sen to 28 sen, MAG Holdings was flat at 16.5 sen, while VS Industry was down one sen to 22.5 sen, PUC slipped half-a-sen to 3.5 sen and AirAsia Group weakened two sen to RM1.04.
Among the top gainers, Petronas Gas advanced 14 sen to RM17.78, TradePlus Shariah Gold Tracker jumped five sen to RM5.14, Westports Holdings was four sen up to RM6.87, Hengyuan Refining Company inched up four sen to RM6.87, and Hong Leong Bank climbed five sen to RM5.01.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index decreased 24.36 points to 12,648.44, the FBM Top 100 Index inched down 23.43 points to 12,483.74, and the FBM Mid 70 Index contracted 50.09 points to 17,931.54.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 36.13 points to 12,469.24, and the FBM ACE Index fell 29.40 points to 4,895.31.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index was marginally lower by 0.41 of a point to 185.92, and the Plantation Index edged down 0.83 of a point to 9,301.09, while the Energy Index fell 0.13 of a point to 70.81 and the Financial Services Index rose 13.95 points to 20,230.93.
-- BERNAMA