Bursa Malaysia concluded the morning trading session positively, driven by ongoing bargain hunting in specific heavyweight stocks and influenced by Wall Street’s performance.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.28 per cent or 3.99 points to 1,407.02 from 1,403.03 at Tuesday’s close.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners 415 to 379, while 413 counters were unchanged, according to NST.
The FBM100 was up 0.23 per cent to 10,101.50 points, FBM EMAS 0.23 per cent to 10,422.31, FBM HIJRA up 0.34 per cent to 11,442.69, while the FBM ACE was up 0.25 per cent to 5,378.76 points.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) expects the FBM KLCI index to range between 1,390 points and 1,420 points today, with supports remaining at 1,370 points and 1,350 points.
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB Research) said optimism that the Fed is at the tail-end of its rate-hike cycle, along with a respite in the ringgit against the US dollar and the resumption of foreign buying in July following ten consecutive months of selldown totaling around RM8 billion from September to June 2023, could potentially spur the index to revisit resistance levels at 1,422 points to 1,437 points after experiencing a healthy pullback.
“However, the path could remain choppy as investors assess the expectations of another potential lacklustre second quarter of 2023 (2Q23) results season in August, as well as rising political risk premium ahead of the upcoming six state polls on August 12,” it noted.
