Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The FBM KLCI settled up 8.23 points or 0.55% at 1,512.13 during Bursa Malaysia's afternoon break today as world markets took cue from China's latest official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) reading, which rose above market forecast.

Across Bursa at 12:30pm, 3.42 billion securities were traded for RM1.2 billion.

It was reported that China's official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.5 in September from 51.0 in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The PMI reading remained above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction for the seventh month. "Analysts had expected it to pick up slightly to 51.2," Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that although buying interest re-emerged on the local bourse, brokerage firm Rakuten Trade expects the KLCI to remain weak based on the current market sentiment.

“Wall Street succumbed to fears of a possible second Covid-19 wave. Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 131 points to close around the 27,450 level, and in view of this, we expect the regional markets to be volatile today with some downside bias.

“On the local front, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain weak although buying interests are anticipated to re-emerge in pandemic-related stocks,” it said in a note, adding that the benchmark index is expected to stay above the 1,500 mark and could possibly test the 1,510 level today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM7.20, Public Bank increased 28 sen to RM15.86, Top Glove and Tenaga slipped two sen each to RM8.45 and RM10.58 respectively, while Hartalega was 18 sen weaker at RM16.82.

Of the actives, XOX, which aims to tap the blockchain solutions market in Asia Pacific, saw its shares dropping one sen to 14 sen, while Kanger International lost two sen to 19 sen, Trive Property inched up half-a-sen to two sen and Lambo was flat at three sen.

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