KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit retreated from its gains over the past few days to open lower against the United States dollar today despite the weaker greenback, dragged down by the declining oil price, an analyst said.
At 9.03am, the local currency was trading at 4.1800/1830 against the US dollar compared with 4.1750/1775 at yesterday’s close.
Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya said that crude oil prices edged lower as political pressure grew for the US to lobby the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) to make sure the group hits its quota.
He said that the short-term outlook for crude oil still has many risks, but optimism is still high.
“The oil market will remain very tight this year and most likely over the next few years as most energy companies are not investing in massive new drilling projects,” he added.
At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price fell 0.32% to US$84.20 (RM352.36) per barrel.
Meanwhile, at the opening, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit eased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1055/1082 from 3.1034/1055 at yesterday’s close and slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.6696/6722 from 3.6450/6472.
It also fell against the euro to 4.7899/7933 from 4.7883/7912 yesterday but strengthened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7316/7357 from 5.7348/7382 previously.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened lower today due to emerging profit-taking in selected heavyweights following recent gains, dealers said.
At 9.25am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 10.80 points to 1,558.71 from 1,569.51 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 4.28 points lower at 1,565.23.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 481 to 93, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,436 untraded, and 28 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 595.94 million units worth RM312.22 million.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expected market sentiment on the local front to remain cautious as the rally on Wall Street faded.
“Investors are still digesting and are uncertain on the pace of the potential interest rate hikes in the US. Commodity-wise, both crude palm oil and crude oil price saw a mild retreat but remained firm on the uptrend cycle on the back of expectations over stronger demand under the recovery environment.
“Following Wall Street’s decline overnight, we may see technology stocks extending its consolidation move, and we favour energy and banking stocks over the near term. Meanwhile, the consumer sector may see greater demand under the economic recovery phase,” it said.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB slipped 5.0 sen each to RM8.45 and RM5.54, respectively; Public Bank and IHH Healthcare fell 3.0 sen each to RM4.21 and RM6.62, respectively; while Petronas Chemicals declined 10 sen to RM9.05.
Of the actives, AirAsia Group shed 17.5 sen to 57 sen, SMTrack trimmed 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, NWP Holdings slipped 1.0 sen to 19 sen while Xidelang was flat at 4.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 102.97 points weaker at 11,212.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 128.07 points to 11,946.42, the FBM 70 dropped 219.08 points to 13,917.19, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 97.41 points to 10,915.42, and the FBM ACE lost 129.50 points to 6,359.13.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 2.30 points to 203.80 and the Financial Services Index fell 79.73 points to 16,143.10, while the Plantation Index went down 23.22 points to 6,750.76. – Bernama, January 14, 2022
