KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher for the third consecutive day today, buoyed by continuous buying support in the heavyweight counters, especially banking-related stocks, ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) decision.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.92 points to 1,496.11 from Monday's close of 1,491.19.
The barometer index, which opened 1.37 points better at 1,492.56 this morning, moved between 1,490.2 and 1,500.39 throughout the day.
Mild profit-taking emerged early in the morning session, but the key index retested the 1,500-level at mid-morning and maintained its positive momentum thereafter.
The broader market saw advancers outpacing losers 511 to 470, while 465 counters were unchanged, 826 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 5.16 billion units valued at RM3.33 billion from 4.79 billion units worth RM3.12 billion on Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the FBM KLCI was fueled by buying in banking-related stocks ahead of BNM's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision tomorrow.
He said most economists are predicting that the MPC will keep the OPR steady at 3.00 per cent.
"Given that the real rate of interest which is currently at 1.50 per cent, BNM's monetary policy stance can be deemed tight as the average real rate of interest since 2004 stood at 0.60 per cent.
"Given that inflation rate has trended down to 1.5 per cent and the gross domestic product growth stabilsing at 3.4 per cent, perhaps it is best to maintain the OPR at the current rate," he told Bernama.
BNM MPC is sitting today and tomorrow to decide on the key rate in its first meeting of the year.
To recap, the central bank kept the OPR at 3.0 per cent at its last meeting of 2023, making it the third pause in a row.
Meanwhile, Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the local market took a cue from the positive developments on Wall Street overnight, with gains largely driven by banking and Petronas-related heavyweights as crude oil prices ticked higher with Brent oil price nearing US$80 per barrel.
"Going forward, the extended recovery is expected to remain in place amid the calmer market conditions, with the key index looking to take another jab towards the 1,500-psychological level.
"Investors will be keeping a close tab on BNM's monetary policy decision tomorrow, and we expect the central bank to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged," he said.
Leong said further recovery might lift the key index towards the immediate resistance located at 1,504, while the near-term support pegged at 1,465.
Among the banking stocks, Maybank increased eight sen to RM9.09, CIMB rose five sen to RM6.02, Public Bank bagged one sen to RM4.35, Hong Leong Bank garnered 10 sen to RM19.12, and RHB Bank put on three sen to RM5.60.
As for other heavyweights, Tenaga gained two sen to RM10.50, Petronas Chemicals advanced eight sen to RM6.79, IHH Healthcare perked three sen to RM6.00, CelcomDigi added one sen to RM4.24, and Press Metal shed one sen to RM4.77.
Of the actives,Widad Group improved five sen to 18.5 sen, YNH Property rose 5.5 sen to 61 sen, and Leform edged up 1.5 sen to 19.5 sen, while Sarawak Consolidated, Rapid Synergy and Minetech were flat at 43.5 sen, RM1.95 and 15.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 21.96 points to 11,144.18, the FBMT 100 Index firmed 21.75 points to 10,802.04, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 6.14 points to 11,238.85, and the FBM ACE Index added 20.08 points to 4,853.88.
However, the FBM 70 Index decreased 26.08 points to 15,125.72.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 79.61 points to 16,701.46, the Plantation Index improved 5.07 points to 7,155.8, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.32 of-a-point to 173.75, and the Energy Index gained 3.81 points to 858.16, but the Property Index eased 2.46 points to 903.14.