Muristek
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 ― Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking rallies on the Wall Street performance overnight after the Federal Reserve (Fed) announced its largest interest rate hike to battle inflation, a dealer said.
At 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 12.34 points to 1,471.39 from yesterday's close of 1,459.05.
The benchmark index opened 10.05 points higher at 1,469.10.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 344 to 89, while 214 counters were unchanged, 1,632 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 268.39 million units worth RM154.83 million.
Public Investment Bank Bhd, in a note, said the United States (US) stocks and government bond prices rebounded after five consecutive days of declines following the Fed's announcement in an attempt to combat high inflation.
The US central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to between 1.50 per cent and 1.75 per cent at its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting yesterday.
“US stocks settled higher as investors focused on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s assertion that such large rate rises would not become common,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained five sen to RM8.68, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.50, Petronas Chemicals improved eight sen to RM9.61, IHH Healthcare inched up six sen to RM6.25, and CIMB rose seven sen to RM5.03.
Of the actives, Jade Marvel rose one sen to 91.5 sen, LGMS up 4.5 sen to 81.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange was 2.5 sen higher at 90 sen, and Unitrade added one sen to 29.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 83.21 points higher at 10,514.97, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 88.39 points to 10,705.57, the FBM 70 improved 95.97 points to 12,735.32, the FBM ACE gained 40.10 points to 4,928.77, and the FBMT 100 Index increased 83.80 points to 10,237.83.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 120.29 points to 16,288.36, the Plantation Index rose 39.32 points to 7,421.82, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.82 points higher at 189.17. ― Bernama