KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains in utility stocks helped offset selling pressure in the plantation sector.
Market breadth was positive as advancers beat decliners 590 to 480, while 494 counters remained unchanged, 893 untraded and 44 suspended. The market strength was also evident in the FBM Small Cap, FBM Mid Cap, and FBM ACE indices but some sectors fell due to late selling, he noted. On a year-on-year basis, core PCE is forecast to edge up to 2.8 per cent from 2.7 per cent, while overall PCE is anticipated to rise to 2.3 per cent from 2.1 per cent, indicating that inflation remains above the US Federal Reserve’s 2.0 per cent target.
Hence, he expects the FBM KLCI to trend range bound between 1,585 and 1,615 for the remainder of the week. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 20.02 points to 12,190.97, the FBMT 100 Index ticked up 11.18 points to 11,887.55, the FBM 70 Index increased 28.06 points to 17,918.91, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 39.49 points to 5,178.74.Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 37.28 points to 19,236.84, while the Plantation Index shrank 51.32 points to 7,481.33, the Energy Index slid 2.44 points to 818.69, and the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.63 of-a-point to 171.69.