KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed marginally higher at midday today lifted, by positive market sentiments after United States Federal Reserve (Fed) signaled that interest rates have peaked, with a round of cuts by end-2024.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 5.78 points to 1,453.82 compared with 1,448.04 chalked up at yesterday's close.
The FBM KLCI opened 0.84 points better at 1,448.88 and moved between 1,448.14 and 1,456.26 throughout the session.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 469 to 343, while 419 counters were unchanged, 1,113 untraded and 37 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.57 billion units valued at RM1.37 billion.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the surprise move by the Fed to shift towards a more accommodative stance, hinting at a potential 75 basis points in cuts for the upcoming year, has sparked a positive response in global markets.
"The local Bursa is capitalising on this wave of optimism stemming from expectations of central bank rate cuts," he told Business Times.
This development is particularly good news for Malaysian multinational corporations (MNCs) with US debt, said Innes.
"The lower interest rates and a stronger ringgit serve as a welcomed relief, reducing the burden of debt payments and ultimately improving their financial performance," he added.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the US producer prices were unchanged in November amid cheaper energy goods.
"Hence, with that inflation data on a declining trend, we believe it may bode well for the overall market conditions in which we expect further buying interest within the local stock exchange," it added.
Malacca said given the bullish Wall Street overnight performance, it believes the buying interest should spillover towards stocks in the technology sector.
"Also, we expect further trading interest within the glove segment, potentially in tandem with the rise in Covid-19 cases, coupled with the anticipation of better results from Top Glove this month," it added.
