KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market picked up on the positive global sentiment for equities following the US Federal Reserve's signal that it would begin rate cuts next year.
The benchmark FBM KLCI rallied 5.78 points to 1,453.82 as investor bets on a more dovish US were rewarded following the end of its latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
Bank stocks were mostly higher with Public bank gaining three sen to RM4.29, CIMB rising three sen to RM5.82, Hong Leong Bank adding 12 sen to RM19.34 and RHB putting on two sen to RM5.51.
Press Metal
jumped nine sen to RM4.92 while PETRONAS Gas climbed 28 sen to RM17.10.
Meanwhile, the Bursa Malaysia Technology Index also moved 0.3% higher to 62.77 as global tech counters were bought up in light of the promise of lower funding costs moving forward.
MPI gained 68 sen to RM27.78, Pentamaster climbed nine sen to RM4.58 and Vitrox gained three sen to RM7.22.
Top actives were Sapura Energy unchanged at five sen, SMTrack up 0.5 sen to 4.5 sen and Minetec gaining 2.5 sen to 9.5 sen.
Regionally, there was a broad rally across equities markets following the Fed's signal.
China's composite index gained 0.3% to 2,977, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 16,408.
In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 1.3% to 2,542.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.9% to 32,667 following a sharp rally in the yen.
