KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia continued Friday’s gains to open higher today, lifted by positive market sentiment as investors follow the global equity markets.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.24 points better at 1,608.53 from Friday’s close of 1,607.29.
The barometer index opened 0.66 of-a-point higher at 1,607.95.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 173 to 179, while 272 counters were unchanged, 1,630 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 266.93 million worth RM68.47 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors should favour stocks under the recovery-theme, while avoiding the technology sector.
“Meanwhile, several economic releases for this week include the US inflation rate and the European Central Bank interest rate decision which will be released on April 12 and 14, respectively,” it said.
Commodity-wise, it noted that crude oil hovered above US$100, while crude palm oil (CPO) was traded firmer above RM5,900.
The firm expects investors to favour consumer, tourism, building material stocks in anticipation of improving economic activities. Besides, the plantation sector is expected to stay firm amid recovery FCPO price.
“However, the technology sector should see cautious trading following the decline on Nasdaq overnight amid expectation of a more hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve on the monetary policies going forward,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added three sen to RM8.88, IHH Healthcare rose four sen to RM6.49, Public Bank flat at RM4.68, while Petronas Chemicals lost eight sen to RM10.22 and CIMB slipped four sen to RM5.31.
Of the actives, VSolar and Brahims fell half-a-sen each to one sen and three sen, respectively, Yong Tai and Matang rose half-a-sen each to 12.5 sen and 11 sen, respectively, while Tanco increased 6.5 sen to 54.5 sen.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index added 7.68 points to 11,208.30, FBM Emas Index was 10.04 points higher at 11,561.63, and FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 19.87 points to 12,222.46, FBM 70 advanced 5.60 points to 14,009.45, and FBM ACE inched up 0.08 of-a-point to 5,861.56.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.06 of-a-point to 214.41, the Financial Services Index slipped 7.04 points to 16,775.29, while the Plantation Index rose 42.28 points to 8,395.88.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar this morning as demand for the local currency moderated on the back of a stronger greenback, an economist said.
At 9am, the local note eased to 4.2255/2300 versus the US dollar from 4.2195/2230 at 6pm on Friday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit would oscillate around RM4.22 level this week with market players likely to pay close attention to the US inflation.
He also said the Fed’s March 15-16 Federal Open Market Committee minutes, which showed that the US policymakers remained consistent in their monetary tightening stand, would certainly help bolster the value of the greenback.
“The ringgit is expected to remain rangebound as the US dollar is likely to rise following improving economic data along with a hawkish stance by the Federal Reserve (Fed),” he told Bernama.
Afzanizam said this week would be a busy week of a series of meetings for central banks such as the Bank of Canada, European Central Bank and Bank of Korea that will decide their monetary policy.
He said Fed officials would be speaking during this week along with the release of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is expected to rise by 8.3% based on consensus estimates.
“This would bolster the case for aggressive tightening by the Fed,” he reckoned.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 3.3913/3951 from 3.4004/4034 on Friday and strengthened versus the British pound to 5.5024/5083 from 5.5026/5072.
The local unit, however, depreciated vis-à-vis Singapore dollar to 3.0970/1007 from Friday’s 3.0953/0981 and weakened against the euro to 4.6011/6060 from 4.5858/5896. – Bernama, April 11, 2022
