KUALA LUMPUR (March 7): The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) remained in positive territory ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) announcement on the overnight policy rate (OPR) later on Thursday.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI gained 2.32 points to 1,533.83 from Wednesday's close of 1,531.51.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.19 of-a-point higher at 1,531.70, moved between 1,531.70 and 1,539.60 during the morning trading session.

However, the broader market was negative with losers beating gainers 416 to 413, while 424 counters were unchanged, 1,022 untraded and 29 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.89 billion units worth RM1.17 billion.

Analysts were expecting the OPR to stay unchanged at 3%.

On the local front, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects buying support to be seen within the commodities sectors, for instance the oil and gas, gold and plantation sectors have firmer underlying commodities prices given potential interest rate cuts going forward, albeit the timing is not confirmed.

“Besides, we favour selected technology stocks with solid balance sheets and high dividend yield counters, while the consumer sector will be favourable under this cautious environment,” it said in a note on Thursday.

US Federal Reserve’s Chair Jerome Powell in his two-day Congressional testimony beginning Wednesday reportedly said that interest rates will be cut this year despite borrowing costs remaining high going forward.

Traders will also be eyeing the upcoming nonfarm payroll data tomorrow for fresh leads.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd gained one sen to RM9.65, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased four sen to RM6.55, Public Bank Bhd was unchanged at RM4.30 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM6.96, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd slid two sen to RM11.14.

As for the actives, Powerwell Holdings Bhd added four sen to 35 sen, Thriven Global Bhd rose 2.5 sen to 13 sen, Widad Group Bhd was flat at 9.5 sen and TWL Holdings Bhd was unchanged at 3.5 sen, while Vizione Holdings Bhd eased one sen to 4.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 16.00 points firmer at 11,376.73, the FBMT 100 Index improved 13.73 points to 11,040.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 19.64 points to 11,385.57 and the FBM 70 Index bagged 6.81 points to 15,318.41, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 10.02 points to 4,671.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 18.45 points to 17,250.28, the Plantation Index garnered 30.51 points to 7,250.55, the Energy Index improved by 2.49 points to 898.36, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.37 of-a-point to 174.78.