KUALA LUMPUR: A rebound is in store for the FBM KLCI today following a dovish tone from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, which affirmed the end of the rate hike cycle.
“The lower liners which rebounded yesterday could extend their gains, albeit on small steps,” said Apex Securities Research in a note.
Wall Street markets gained overnight after Powell’s testimonial to Congress that said the central bank was awaiting more data evidence before committing to rate cuts this year.
However, he commented that rate cuts are likely to be in the offing if the economy “evolves broadly as expected”.
Apex said the local technology sector may stage a recovery, taking cue from the positive developments on the Nasdaq overnight.
It added that the smaller-than-expected buildup in inventories which pushed crude oil prices present some trading opportunities within oil and gas stocks.
At 9am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.19 points to 1,531.7 as it inched higher on caution ahead of Bank Negara’s monetary policy decision this afternoon.
Apex said it expects the overnight policy rate to remain at 3% in view of no major shift in economic fundamentals.
There was a bounce in blue chips including Genting up four sen to RM4.86, CIMB rising two sen to RM6.53, PETRONAS Dagangan up 38 sen to RM22.44 and Maxis gaining five sen to RM3.64.
Top actives included TWL unchanged at 3.5 sen, Thriven rising 1.5 sen to 12 sen and Minetec unchanged at 15 sen.