Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): The FBM KLCI settled down 10.64 points or 0.69% at 1,520.64 during Bursa Malaysia’s afternoon break today as investors took profit on banking shares and as they took cue from factors including updates from the US Federal Reserve on the outlook of the country’s interest rates.

Across Bursa at 12:30pm, 4.33 billion securities were traded for RM3 billion. Malaysian markets resumed trading today after they were closed yesterday in conjunction with the Malaysia Day holiday.

Today, investors took profit on banking stocks after their share prices rose on Tuesday.

TA Securities Holdings Bhd analysts wrote in a note today: “Banking stocks led gains on Tuesday, lifting the blue-chip benchmark to a two-week high, after Bank Negara (Malaysia) left interest rates unchanged on signs of economic recovery while the broader market remained vibrant amid strong retail participation."

“The KLCI climbed 19.92 points, or 1.32%, to 1,531.28, near session high of 1,532.04 and off an early low of 1,503.19, as gainers led losers by 648 to 480 on total turnover of 8.84 billion shares worth RM5.45 billion.

“(Today,) the local market should stage profit-taking consolidation, pending release of the closely watched corporate results from Top Glove (Corp Bhd) for guidance on the outlook for the rubber glove industry,” the TA Securities analysts said.

Globally, it was reported that stocks fell and the US dollar advanced on Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low for a long time but stopped short of offering further on stimulus to shore up a battered US economy.

It was reported that the Fed said it would keep interest rates near zero until inflation is on track to "moderately exceed" the central bank's 2% inflation target "for some time".

"New economic projections released with the policy statement showed most policymakers see interest rates on hold through to at least 2023, with inflation never breaching 2% over that period,” Reuters reported.

"MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.82%, running out of steam after five straight days of gains. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.45%.

"US S&P 500 futures fell 0.87% in Asia on Thursday following a 0.46% drop in the S&P 500 on Wall Street. Tech shares fared worse, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping 1.25% on Wednesday. Nasdaq futures dropped 1.13% in Asia,” Reuters said.

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