KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI opened higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in banking and telco stocks amid hopes that the Federal Reserve could skip raising interest rates.
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U.S. consumer price data showed inflation barely rose in May, increasing expectations the Federal Reserve will pause hiking interest rates.
Overnight, the Dow rose 145.79 points or 0.4% to 34,212.12 and the Nasdaq advanced 111.40 points or 0.8% to 13,573.32. The benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.69% to settle at 4,369.01 points.
The FBM KLCI rose 2.45 points, or 0.18% to 1,383.06 at 9.07am. It opened 1.09 points higher at 1,381.70 this morning.
Among the gainers, Aeon Credit rose 40 sen to RM11.60, APB Resources gained 25 sen to RM2.50, Nestle added 20 sen to RM132.10 and KESM advanced 17 sen to RM7.18.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid 28 sen RM21.62, PETRONAS Gas lost 26 sen to RM16.62, Heineken eased 20 sen to RM26.80 and YNH Property fell 11 sen to RM4.74.
Among the banks, AmBank rose five sen to RM3.52, RHB Bank added five sen to RM5.36, Maybank gained one sen to RM8.63, Public Bank climbed one sen to RM3.82 and CIMB rose one sen to RM5.
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Inter-Pacific Research said FBM KLCI ‘s inability to sustain its upward streak is leaving its direction uncertain again and Malaysian stocks may continue to dither, even as global equities are looking firmer.
The research house said foreign selling picked up pace again yesterday to end the positive streak and their sustained selling is likely to leave the key index to continue drifting for the time being as they still sell into strength.
It said this could dent the key index’s recovery prospects while also increasing the odds of a return to the downside.
“Consequently, the 1,380 support level is still precarious and a break of the level could send the key index back to its year lows of 1,374-1,378 points. The hurdles, on the other hand, are at the 1,388-1,390 levels, followed by the 1,395 level,” Inter-Pacific said.
“For the most part, the lower liners and broader market shares are still tipping higher, and we see the trend sustaining as there are still pockets of interest among these stocks. As a result, this is likely to sustain its mild recovery for now,” it added.
– The Star