KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market got a boost from the positive performance on Wall Street overnight as investors reacted favourably towards the US Federal Reserve minutes that affirmed the strong likelihood of a rate cut in September.
The benchmark index had retreated slightly over the last two sessions as investors took profit amid the ongoing corporate results period, and in anticipation of the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, which will help to solidify assumptions over US policymakers' stance on interest rates.
However, the FBM KLCI was back to a climb on Thursday, rising 5.01 points to 1,640.33 after it was revealed in meeting records that a vast majority of Fed members were leaning towards a September rate cut.
As it stands, CME FedWatch Tool projects a 100% probability of at least a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut in September, and a 33% likelihood of a 50bps reduction.
Apex Securities Research said there will be spillover buying support on the local technology sector given the positive performance on Wall Street.
"YTL-related stocks could also trade actively higher, driven by strong QoQ earnings growth.
"Additionally, the Monkeypox situation may provide a slight boost to Healthcare stocks.
"We also favour consumer and financial stocks due to the stronger ringgit environment," it said in its outlook.
The research firm also noted that technical readings on the FBM KLCI remained positive with the MACD histogram forming another positive bar and the RSI trending above 50.
"The resistance is envisaged around 1,650-1,655 and the support is set at 1,620-1,615," it said.
On the market, Dutch Lady
rose 38 sen to RM32.40 following the previous day's results announcement.
YTL was seen rising 17 sen to RM3.23 while YTL Power jumped 25 sen to RM4.
Decliners included LPI, falling 18 sen to RM13.16 after the previous day's rally ahead of the evening release of its quarterly results.
Top actives included Elridge up six sen to 35 sen, Velocity gaining 0.5 sen to 6.5 sen and Mikro MSC shedding 3.5 sen to 29.5 sen.
