KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking the negative sentiment on the overnight Wall Street performance due to concerns over the threat of rising inflation and United States Federal Reserve’s potential withdrawal of stimulus measures.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI erased 2.82 points to 1,519.52 from yesterday’s close of 1,522.34.
The index opened 0.87 of-a-point easier at 1,521.47.
The broader market was negative as losers edged past gainers 168 to 134, while 254 counters were unchanged, 1,760 untraded, and 45 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 207.34 million units valued at RM76.62 million.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar as the greenback gained momentum ahead of the US October’s Retail Sales data, which is expected to rise to 0.7% month-on-month, based on consensus estimates, said an analyst.
At 9am, the local note fell to 4.1630/1655 versus the greenback from 4.1600/1630 at yesterday’s close.
Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the 10-year US Treasury yield has surpassed the 1.6% level, suggesting that the bond market is anticipating that the rate hike cycle could commence in 2022. – Bernama, November 16, 2021
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