However, investors maintained a risk-off mode ahead of tonight’s release of the US inflation print.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said most key regional indices ended higher following overnight gains on Wall Street, as a soft producer inflation report fuelled expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) might begin cutting rates in September.
“This week, investors are also focussed on China’s industrial production and retail sales data, as well as key earnings reports from major Chinese firms like Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com, and CK Hutchison,” he said.
On the domestic front, he said investors are cautiously optimistic and closely monitoring the US inflation print and China’s economic data to gauge the local market’s direction, which is greatly influenced by global economic powerhouses.
“At this time, we expect the benchmark index to remain in consolidation mode, pending a breakout above the 1,620 level, given the decline in daily volume to below five billion.
“As such, we anticipate the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to fluctuate within the 1,600-1,620 range throughout the week,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose by 0.17% or 2.83 points to 1,612.35 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,609.52.
The index, which opened 2.27 points higher at 1,611.79, fluctuated between 1,606.49 and 1,613.63 throughout the session.
Market breadth saw gainers leading losers 553 to 442, with 474 counters unchanged, 1,019 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover rose slightly to 3.46 billion units valued at RM2.497 billion from yesterday’s 3.41 billion units worth RM2.499 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan increased RM1.14 to RM19.48, Press Metal rose 11 sen to RM5.03, YTL Corporation climbed six sen to RM3.41, while YTL Power International and Sime Darby gained seven sen each to RM4.43 and RM2.62 respectively.
As for the most active counters, TWL and MYEG were both flat at three sen and 90.5 sen respectively, Cape EMS rose 0.5 sen to 46 sen, and Hiap Teck Venture dipped 1.5 sen to 35.5 sen.
Petronas Dagangan was the top gainer today, followed by F&N which jumped 40 sen to RM29.50, United Plantations put on 30 sen to RM25.70, and KLK perked up 26 sen to RM21.04.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 44.77 points firmer to 12,289.52, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 45.14 points to 11,929.24, the FBM ACE Index increased by 2.56 points to 5,391.29, the FBM 70 Index soared 156.98 points to 17,915.57, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 56.46 points to 12,429.52.
Sector-wise, the energy index gained 9.76 points to 933.64, the industrial products and services index added 1.51 points to 183.03, and the technology index edged up 0.14 of-a-point to 71.33.
The financial services index ticked up 10.61 points to 18,223.25 and the plantation index rose 32 points to 7,157.88.
The Main Market volume widened to 1.81 billion units worth RM2.17 billion from 1.77 billion units valued at RM2.14 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover expanded to 1.14 billion units valued at RM154.81 million from 1.06 billion units worth RM146.26 million previously.
The ACE Market volume narrowed to 506.22 million shares worth RM172.6 million from 570.9 million shares valued at RM208.29 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 292.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (428.76 million), construction (134.3 million), technology (189.6 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (79.64 million), property (347.93 million), plantation (22.98 million), REITs (11.44 million), closed/fund (16,100), energy (92.3 million), healthcare (60.98 million), telecommunications and media (36.67 million), transportation and logistics (57.88 million), utilities (64.25 million), and business trusts (204.700).