Wall Street rebounded sharply buoyed by the lower than expected weekly jobless claims, allaying fears of the creeping US unemployment rate and recessionary fears. Attention may now be on the CPI data next Wednesday.
As such, the DJIA jumped 683 points while the Nasdaq added 464 points with the US 10-year yield ending higher at 3.989%. Over in Hong Kong, the HSI closed slightly higher after a slow opening on expectations that global funds may return to undervalued Chinese equities.
On the home front, the FBM KLCI closed on a flat note as the market is still trying to even after the recent wild gyrations. Though daily volume traded has weakened to around the 4bn shares level, Rakuten said it sees this as positive, noting that selling may be easing.
Despite the upturn on Wall Street, the house expects sentiment on the local bourse to remain cautious ahead of the weekend, hence anticipate the index to hover within the 1,590-1,610 based on the positive momentum registered this week.
