KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended morning trading session higher, up 9.61 points to 1,405.84.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened 3.3 points higher at 1,399.53 and peaked at 1,408.34 before settling almost 6 points above the key 1,400 points level for the morning session.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 489 to 301, while 401 counters remained unchanged.
Turnover stood at 2.16 billion units worth RM1.07 billion.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) said the market will remain choppy on the last trading day of the week.
"Profit taking may intensify ahead of the weekend break, and this may weigh on sentiment.
"Automotive stocks, however, may gain some interest on news about PM Anwar's meeting with Elon Musk today," it said in a note today.
The investment bank expects the FBM KLCI index to range between 1,380 points and 1,410 points today.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the regional market and the foreign exchange rates have done really well.
"Perhaps, there is a lag effect for Bursa. Global sentiments are improving as the Fed is likely to shift their monetary stand, one that is more or less hawkish.
"Based on their forecast in June, the Fed Fund Rate (FFR) should settle at 5.6 per cent. That could mean another 25 basis points hike possibly this month and then they will stop," he added.
"Next year, their FFR forecast is 4.6 per cent and in 2025, it would be 3.4 per cent.
So, in the next two years the Fed is expected to ease their benchmark interest rate," he noted.
Afzanizam said this can be positive for the equities market at a time when actual inflation has decelerated to three per cent in June, suggesting they are on track to achieve the two per cent inflation target fairly soon.