KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session mixed as the market sentiment turned slightly cautious, mirroring the regional performance ahead of the US Federal (Fed) Reserve decision on interest rates later in the day.
Nevertheless, the local bourse continued to receive continuous support across sectors with technology, construction and property continuing to lead the way.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.25 points to 1,613.74 from Tuesday’s close of 1,611.49. The FBM KLCI opened 5.14 points higher at 1,616.63 and moved between 1,613.09 and 1,618.99 throughout the session
Decliners outpaced gainers 593 to 578, while 468 counters remained unchanged, 762 untraded, and nine others suspended. Turnover totalled 4.7 billion units worth RM2.86 billion.
A trader said caution reigned in the region as investors are waiting for US inflation data due out later today as well as the Fed’s outlook and decision on interest rates. It is widely anticipated that the Fed will keep the interest rate unchanged at this juncture.
The Hang Seng Index dipped 1.45 per cent to 17,913.10, the Nikkei was 0.60 per cent weaker at 38,900.45 while the Straits Times Index posted a modest gain of 0.16 per cent to 3,314.44.
Among the local heavyweight stocks, Tenaga Nasional jumped 20 sen to RM14, TM climbed 15 sen to RM6.74 and CIMB rose four sen to RM6.93. HH, Public Bank and Axiata were unchanged at RM6.25, RM4.08 and RM2.80, respectively.
Among the active counters, DNeX gained 2.5 sen to 50 sen, Harvest Miracle was flat at 10.5 sen, SNS Network surged 14 sen to 89.5 sen while JCY was one sen higher at 80.5 sen. – Bernama