Bursa opens higher for third consecutive day

Bursa Malaysia commenced trading at a higher level on Thursday for the third consecutive session, mirroring overnight gains in US markets following the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates between 3.75% and 4.00%. By 9:10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index climbed 4.71 points, or 0.29%, to 1,618.58, following Wednesday's closing price of 1,613.87. The benchmark index opened 0.57 points above the previous close at 1,614.44.

In the wider market, bullish stocks outnumbered bearish ones by 198 to 104, with 291 counters remaining unchanged. Overall turnover amounted to 173.26 million units, valued at RM74.17 million. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, stated that the Fed's decision to keep rates steady was anticipated, yet concerns about persistent inflation persist.

He noted that the benchmark index is gradually stabilising, though low trading volume indicates cautious investor behaviour. Pak Leng predicted the index would hover between 1,610 and 1,620 today, driven by bargain hunting in solid banking, technology, and plantation firms.

Notable stock movements included Maybank (+1 sen to RM10.00), Public Bank (+3 sen to RM4.74) and CIMB (+3 sen to RM7.14), while Tenaga Nasional (+10 sen to RM13.32) and IHH Healthcare remained flat at RM7.83. Active trades saw Zetrix AI and Land & General staying flat at 8.5 sen and 19 sen, respectively, whereas Kanger International dipped half a sen to one sen. CTOS Digital rose three sen to 42 sen, and Iconic Worldwide increased half a sen to 12 sen. Nestle led the gainers, adding 52 sen to RM98.50, and Bursa Malaysia Bhd climbed 11 sen to RM8.11. MISC increased 10 sen to RM8.39, and AMMB Holdings gained nine sen to RM6.38.

Among the biggest losers were United Plantations (-16 sen to RM29.16) and LPI Capital (-4 sen to RM13.04), with Spritzer and Hap Seng Plantations falling three sen each to RM3.66 and RM2.22, respectively. QL Resources dropped two sen to RM3.78. Index-wise, the FBM Emas Index rose 31.42 points to 12,098.69, the FBM Top 100 Index climbed 30.95 points to 11,890.23, the FBM Mid 70 Index increased 30.11 points to 17,478.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 26.34 points to 12,107.48, and the FBM ACE Index added 1.57 points to 5,483.49.

Industrials and Services index edged up 0.06 points to 179.09, Energy index gained 1.95 points to 848.32, Financial Services index surged 62.23 points to 18,641.47, while Plantation index fell 5.12 points to 8,641.71.