KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend to open lower today, as investors remain cautious over volatile markets, taking cue from the significant sell-off on Wall Street overnight, a dealer said.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 9.41 points to 1,455.42 from yesterday’s close of 1,464.83.
The benchmark index opened 6.97 points lower at 1,457.86.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 529 to 63, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,455 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 355.69 million units worth RM239.99 million.
The ringgit extended its downtrend to open lower against the stronger US dollar today on cautious sentiment over a potential interest rate hike in the US, as well as Federal Reserve’s latest quarterly forecast, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local currency slipped to 4.4220/4245 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4170/4185.
Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index rose to 105.078 points, the highest since 2002.
He said the US dollar remained a highly sought-after currency since Friday after the May consumer price index came in higher than expected. – Bernama, June 14, 2022
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