KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rebounded to open higher on Friday, taking its cue from Wall Street’s overnight performance.
At 9.06 am, the market bellwether rose 4.1 points, or 0.29% to 1,400.33. The index opened 3.3 points higher at 1,399.53.
Overnight, the US market rose overnight after June PPI data was lower than expected, easing concerns of further aggressive interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.71 points, or 0.14%, to 34,395.14, the S&P 500 gained 37.88 points, or 0.85%, to 4,510.04 and the Nasdaq Composite added 219.61 points, or 1.58%, to 14,138.57.
Malacca Securities expects further recovery to be in store as foreign funds have turned into a net buying position in the recent two days.
“On the other hand, the lower liners may continue to build onto their recovery momentum, taking advantage of the positive market sentiment.
“With inflationary pressure cooling off in the US, upward movements could sustain over the near term,” it said.
Malacca Securities continued to favour the technology sector on the back of the extended uptrend momentum on the Nasdaq overnight.
“The energy sector will be buoyed by the rising crude oil prices after Saudi Arabia pledged to extend a production cut of 1.0m barrels per day (bpd) in August 2023, while Russia will cut exports by 500,000 bpd.
“Firmer CPO prices that track the gains on soybean oil and recovery in demand from India should boost the plantation sector,” it said.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said as long as the index is still able to maintain its posture above the downtrend line, the current rebound from 3Y low of 1,369 may continue towards 1,404-1,412- 1,422 levels.
Conversely, it said a breakdown below the downtrend line may drag the index lower to retest 1,350-1,369-1,385 zones.
Among the gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries jumped 72 sen to RM29.62, Nestle rose 70 sen to RM131.90, PETRONAS Dagangan gained 24 sen to RM22 and Dutch Lady climbed 22 sen to RM22.22.
Hextar Technologies slid 40 sen to RM26.30, Imaspro eased 20 sen to RM5.11, Ideal Capital fell 11 sen to RM2.01 and IOI Corp declined six sen to RM3.84.
– The Star