KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened the week on a higher note today, supported by buying interest in most indices, analysts said.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM-KLCI) ticked up 0.8 of-a-point to 1,569.02 compared with 1,568.22 at Friday’s close.
The benchmark index opened 2.48 points firmer at 1,570.70.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 216 to 131, while 187 counters were unchanged, 1,767 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 139.36 million units valued at RM73.92 million.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed sharply lower, as technology and growth shares led a broad decline, with investors worrying about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while attention turned to the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy meeting this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average lost 230 points, while the Nasdaq declined 286 points.
“We reckon the Fed to tighten monetary policy this year to fight the 40-year high inflation.
“For the local bourse, we anticipate that investors’ sentiment will remain jittery though bargain-hunting activities may emerge as well.
“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend in range bound and hovering within the 1,560-1,580 level for today.”
On oil markets, crude palm oil eased to below RM7,000 level, with Brent crude remaining high at above US$110 per barrel.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.94, Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM9.76, IHH Healthcare added two sen to RM6.43, while Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.38, Press Metal dropped nine sen to RM6.41, and CIMB was flat at RM5.05.
Of the actives, Green Packet and Bumi Armada were 1.5 sen better at 11 sen and 41.5 sen, respectively, and Advance Synergy eased 1.5 sen to 10 sen.
On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 16.15 points better at 11,130.74, FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 35.87 points to 11,798.75, FBM 70 ticked up 62.02 points to 13,134.77, FBMT 100 Index perked 15.34 points to 10,832.56, and FBM ACE climbed 35.25 points to 5,293.73.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.03 of-a-point to 204.72, the Financial Services Index increased 11.34 points to 16,261.36, while the Plantation Index erased 17.56 points to 8,187.14.
At 9.30am today, there were 244 gainers, 261 losers and 265 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
The FBM-KLCI was at 1,561.93 down 6.29 points, the FBMACE was at 5,240.35 down 18.13 points, and the FBMEmas was at 11,082.53 down 32.06 points.
Turnover was at 415.813 million shares valued at RM247.039 million.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today as risk off impulses hit demand for the local currency.
At 9.01am, the local currency declined further to 4.1960/2000 versus the greenback from 4.1940/1975 at Friday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market will closely monitor none other than the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 15 and 16.
“It seems that most economists are in agreement that the FOMC will deliver a 25-basis-point hike in the Fed Fund Rate that would bring it to 0.50%.
“The latest print for inflation during February 2022 continues to remain high at 7.9%, indicating that the Fed would need to pursue a monetary tightening to align the economy with its current state,’’ he said.
Given that prevalent concerns, the ringgit should stay around RM4.19 to RM4.20 today, he said.
The ringgit also strengthened against a basket of major currencies except for the Japanese yen, where it depreciated to 3.0767/0801 from 3.5858/5891 at Friday’s close.
The local unit was higher against the British pound at 5.4737/4789 from 5.4828/4874, rose to 4.5858/5902 vis-a-vis the euro from 4.5991/6030, and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0767/0801 versus 3.0802/0832 on Friday. – Bernama, March 14, 2022
