KLCI Edges Higher After Fed Raises Rates; Ringgit Higher

KLCI Edges Higher After Fed Raises Rates; Ringgit Higher - Bursa Malaysia traded higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time this year. 

At midday, the benchmark FBM KLCI gained 7.31 points to 1,873.11. The benchmark index opened 0.03 of-a-point higher at 1,865.83 this morning. 

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 388 to 355 while 372 counters unchanged. About 1.44 billion shares, valued at RM872.98mil, changed hands.

Kenanga Research said charting-wise, outlook for the FBM KLCI remained seemingly weak despite today’s high note closing as key indicators continued to be indecisive.

“Expect sideways movement in the short term with support at 1,840 (S1), followed by a lower support at 1,800 (S2),” it said. 

The research house did not discount the possibility that the ringgit would face headwinds and may undergo some degree of depreciation pressure in the short term. 

“While we expect the USDMYR pair to fluctuate between 3.90-4.00, we maintain our year-end target of 3.90,” Kenanga said. 

The ringgit was quoted at 3.9105 against the US dollar 

 The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points to a range of 1.5% to 1.75% at the end of its policy meeting on Wednesday, as was widely expected. The central bank indicated that it still expected two more hikes this year.

On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle surged RM7.90, or 5.96% to RM140.50 pushing the index up by 3.0550 points. Public Bank jumped 24 sen to RM23.92 nudging the index up by 1.5365 while Maybank rose 12 sen to RM10.40 prod the index higher by 2.1552. 

Sapura Energy was the most active counter after securing a contract from Mubadala Petroleum and analyst upgrades. The counter gained 7.77%, or four sen to 55.5 sen with 189.6 million shares traded. UOB Kay Hian’s analyst has upgraded the stock to hold and assigned a target price of 59 sen.

Meanwhile, Red Sena Bhd was unchanged at 47 sen with 5.1 million shares exchanged hands. Red Sena-WA, however, plunged 42.86% to two sen with 94 million shares traded.  

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.54% to 21,496.43 points while the broader Topix edged up by 0.23% to 1,720.24.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi advanced 0.59% to 2,499.61. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.63% to 31,218.05 and  the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.81% at 3,254.31.