KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia trended lower at mid-morning, weighed down by persistent selling in selected heavyweights, taking the cue from the overnight negative performance on Wall Street, dealers said.
At 11.01am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.32 points to 1,514.54 from yesterday’s close of 1,523.86.
The benchmark index opened 0.55 of-a-point easier at 1,523.31.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 463 to 247, while 326 counters were unchanged, 1,238 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.47 billion units worth RM685.26 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said Wall Street closed lower as investors continued to fret over the prospects for the US economy and as oil jumped to a 13-week high. The S&P 500 fell over 1% in a broad sell-off, snapping a two-day winning streak, noing that Brent crude jumped more than two per cent to US$123 a barrel.
Back home, the FBM KLCI closed negative for the fifth consecutive day as sentiments remained fragile as investors are cautious of uncertainties such as the global recession, inflation and rising interest rates.
“We expect bargain hunting will prevail given the cheap valuations of local stocks, the continuous inflow of foreign investors and the improving macroeconomic situation in the country. As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend slightly higher within the region of 1,520 to 1,540,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM8.83, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare fell 16 sen each to RM9.69 and RM6.37 respectively, CIMB slid three sen to RM5.04 but Public Bank improved two sen to RM4.59.
Of the actives, Yew Lee Pacific added three sen to 32 sen, EA Holdings eased half-a-sen to one sen, LGMS declined five sen to 79.5 sen, while Dynaciate and Green Packet were flat at 14.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 59.66 points lower at 10,873.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 92.21 points to 11,141.17, the FBM 70 declined 55.69 points to 13,236.42, the FBM ACE decreased 70.63 points to 5,163.47, while the FBMT 100 Index slipped 60.12 points at 10,562.19.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 23.71 points to 16,555.40, the Plantation Index tumbled 101.68 points to 7,710.10 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.46 points easier at 194.80.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today on the back of a potential interest rate hike in the US, said a dealer.
At 9am, the local currency stood at 4.3945/3980 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.3930/3960.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to trade range-bound today as market players await global financial policymakers’ actions.
“The focus is on the ECB monetary policy decision slated for today. At the same time, foreign exchange players are bogged down by interest rate decisions by major central banks,” he said.
He said the general consensus is that there would not be any change to the benchmark interest rate.
“However, it would be interesting to see the ECB narratives and how it would translate into future policy responses, which may set the stage for the beginning of normalising their excessive monetary policy accommodation,” he said.
In addition, he said the Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be held on June 14 and 15.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened against the yen to 3.2748/2777 from 3.2837/2862 and rose slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.1911/1941 from yesterday’s close of 3.1928/1952.
However, the local note depreciated against the British pound to 5.5081/5125 from 5.5027/5064 yesterday and eased against the euro to 4.7069/7107 from 4.7027/7059. – Bernama, June 9, 2022
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