KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market started the week on a slight rebound after a period of profit-taking, underpinned by the positive momentum from last Friday's US jobs report.
At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI was up 3.61 points to 1,633.58, which gives the benchmark some reprieve from the selling pressure seen in the previous week.
This could be owing to the positive closing on the US market last Friday, after US non-farm payrolls in September exceeded expectations, signalling the economy remained robust.
Apex Securities Research forecast a rebound following the expectation-defying jobs report, while the lower liners are expected to follow a similar pattern in tandem with the positive sentiment.
"The robust jobs report builds a case for a smaller Fed rate cut in November, propelling the dollar index to the highest level since August," it said.
Meanwhile, it said investors will be assessing the impact of stimulus measures from the reopening of Chinese markets today.
"Sector-wise, we expect the technology sector to outperform, tracking the Nasdaq index on Friday.
"For the week ahead, the market will focus closely on the US inflation data and the FOMC minutes’ release on Thursday for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision moving forward," it added.
Among blue chips, Sime Darby rose three sen to RM2.44, Press Metal
jumped six sen to RM4.98 and Maxis gained seven sen to RM3.72. Genting Malaysia also added seven sen to RM2.43 while parent Genting climbed four sne to RM4.18.
Maybank, however, dropped eight sen to MR10.42 while CIMB shaved six sen to RM7.86.
Of actives, Sanichi was flat at 1.5 sen, OCR dropped 0.5 sen to three sne and Velesto was unchanged at 20.5 sen.
