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Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher as markets turned volatile following the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive interest rate stance. ― Picture by Hari Anggara
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher as markets turned volatile following the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive interest rate stance, and the surge in oil prices due to supply shortage concerns arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, analysts said.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.35 of-a-point higher at 1,591.22 from 1,590.88 at Thursday’s close.
The market bellwether opened 2.80 points better at 1.593.68.
On the broader market, gainers inched past losers 174 to 124, while 190 counters were unchanged, 2,321 untraded, and 45 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 98.32 million worth RM10.20 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng expects the index to hover within the 1,580-1,600 range today due to the prevailing market volatility.
“Meanwhile, profit-taking activities saw crude palm oil price declining to around RM6,500 per tonne, while oil benchmark Brent crude closed past the US$106 (RM445) per barrel as fears on the supply side escalate,” Thong said to Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added three sen to RM9.01, Petronas Chemicals improved three sen to RM9.45, IHH Healthcare was up 13 sen to RM6.52 and Tenaga gained three sen to RM9.11, while Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.61 and CIMB eased seven sen to RM5.41.
Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange bagged half-a-sen to 99.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum rose four sen to RM1.14 and Bumi Armada added one sen to 42.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 5.88 points stronger at 11,280.56, FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked up 24.91 points to 11,843.28, FBM 70 reduced 1.10 points to 13,356.99, FBMT 100 Index increased 1.64 points to 10,992.27, and FBM ACE climbed 14.06 points to 5,377.88.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.87 of-a-point to 203.85 and the Plantation Index recovered 25.14 points to 7,852.56, while the Financial Services Index fell 31.10 points to 16,764.48. — Bernama