KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened higher today as investors digested the overnight performance of the United States market, which was mixed with the Nasdaq rallying while the Dow fell amid a slew of corporate earnings.
US stocks and government bond prices rallied yesterday after the Federal Reserve acknowledged improvements in the economy at its latest meeting while opting to keep its current policy stance unchanged.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was 2.37 points better at 1,517.76 from 1,515.39 at the close yesterday.
The index opened 0.42 of a point easier at 1,514.97.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 210 to 141, while 236 counters were unchanged, 1,634 untraded and 80 suspended.
Turnover stood at 245.91 million units worth RM104.03 million.
The ringgit, too, opened higher against the US dollar, with the latter continuing to move sideaways against the local note after no changes were made to US monetary policy.
At 9.03am, the ringgit rose to 4.2260/2270 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2330/2355.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US interest rate is unchanged at 0.25%, while the Federal Open Market Committee report indicated that the Fed will not remove the current financial stimulus until employment in the US is back at pre-pandemic levels. – Bernama, July 29, 2021
