KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened on a low note today, tracking Wall Street’s weaker overnight performance which saw the Dow Jones falling by 0.3% ahead of the holiday-shortened trading week, amidst a mixed bag of corporate earnings reports.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 1.20 points to 1,594.50, from yesterday’s close of 1,595.70.
The barometer index opened 0.88 of-a-point firmer at 1,596.58.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 169 versus 82, while 227 counters were unchanged, 1,774 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 137.26 million worth RM55.86 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said as foreign funds had offloaded some equities earlier this week, the local bourse is expected to trade in a negative bias today.
The negative performance on Wall Street overnight could also accelerate profit-taking activities on the local front, it said.
“However, crude oil is trading above US$110 per barrel and the crude palm oil future (FCPO) is higher than RM6,200, which will bring optimism to the plantation and energy stocks.
“Also, we believe the market could be pricing in earlier than expected 15th general election (GE15), hence trading interest should continue to build up within the construction sector,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM8.83, RM4.67 and RM6.52, respectively, Petronas Chemicals lost four sen to RM10.22, while Press Metal added one sen to RM6.61.
Of the actives, both SMTrack and Pappajak were flat at eight sen and 52.5 sen, respectively, Datasonic rose two sen to 51.5 sen, while Pertama shed one sen to 88 sen and Tanco eased 3.5 sen to 40 sen.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index declined 9.0 points to 11,092.57, FBM Emas Index was 8.58 points easier at 11,446.11, FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 1.59 points to 12,093.80, FBM 70 weakened 13.81 points to 13,791.86, and FBM ACE reduced 0.70 of-a-point to 5,845.62.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.03 of-a-point to 214.54, the Financial Services Index dipped 25.10 points to 16,654.48, while the Plantation Index bagged 9.46 points to 8,474.37.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded easier against the US dollar this morning as the positive greenback sentiment curbed appetite for the local currency.
At 9.11am, the local note slipped to 4.2325/2370 versus the US dollar from 4.2305/2330 at Thursday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the overnight US Dollar Index strengthened by 0.41% to 100.28 points as the US economic indicators point to better prospects amid rising inflationary pressures.
He said the US Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 65.7 points in April, beating the consensus forecast of 59.0 points, while the Import Price Index expanded to 12.5% in March from 10.9% in February.
This has bolstered the case for an aggressive interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, with the two-year US Treasury notes yield up by about 11 basis points to 2.45%.
“At the moment, Bank Negara Malaysia is expected to maintain its policy stance, although chances that it would raise the overnight policy rate are increasing in light of the improving economic conditions amidst rising inflationary pressures.
“As such, the ringgit should remain around RM4.23 today,” he said.
Elsewhere, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has decided to tighten its monetary policy by re-centering the mid-point of the Singapore Dollar Nominal Effective Exchange Rate yesterday, increasing the rate of appreciation of the exchange rate policy band.
This has resulted in the USD-SGD strengthening to SGD1.3569 per US dollar.
The Bank of Korea has also taken similar steps when the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.50%.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1181/1219 from 3.1238/1258 on Thursday and strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.3485/3523 from 3.3744/3767 yesterday.
The local unit increased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5226/5284 from 5.5580/5613 and firmed against the euro to 4.5745/5793 from 4.6180/6207 previously. – Bernama, April 15, 2022
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