KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit reversed five days of losses to open slightly higher against the US dollar today, despite a volatile foreign exchange market caused by the United States’ interest rate hikes and the European energy crisis, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local currency rose to 4.6250/6290 against the greenback from yesterday’s closing of 4.6285/6310.
However, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz cautioned that the US dollar is expected to continue its relentless rise against the ringgit, and at the same time, the extreme market volatility could have a ripple effect and bring down the market in a harmful way.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded easier against a basket of major currencies.
It fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.4812/4850 from 4.4184/4208 at yesterday’s close, eased against the British pound to 4.9978/5.0021 from yesterday’s 4.9409/9436, and declined versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2187/2220 from 3.1954/1975.
The local note also depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2058/2088 from 3.1974/1993 previously.
Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note in the early morning session, tracking an improved Wall Street performance overnight.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 6.63 points to 1,408.52 from yesterday’s close of 1,401.89, after opening 5.5 points higher at 1,407.39.
The market breadth was positive with advancers outpacing decliners 260 to 56, while 157 counters were unchanged, 1,928 untraded, and 57 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 123.66 million units worth RM57.47 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said he expects to see some buying activities today, particularly in banking and technology-related stocks.
“As such, we anticipate the index to trend in the 1,405-1,420 range today despite the cautious market undertone,” he said today.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.28, Petronas Chemicals increased four sen to RM8.41, CIMB and IHH Healthcare advanced six sen each to RM5.17 and RM5.99, respectively, while Maybank and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM8.56 and RM20.44, respectively.
Of the actives, PT Resources went up two sen to 43.5 sen, Top Glove bagged 1.5 sen to 60.5 sen, Tanco was one sen higher at 30.5 sen, while Velesto, Sapura Energy and SNS Network were flat at 11.5 sen, four sen and 27 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index widened 53.3 points to 10,062.75, the FBM 70 garnered 88.48 points to 12,255.13, and the FBMT 100 Index expanded 52.07 points to 9,812.58.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 50.63 points to 10,124.4, while the FBM ACE ticked up 31.54 points to 4,687.44.
Sector-wise, the energy index was firmer by 11.69 points at 682.01, the plantation index went up 46.91 points to 6,505.99, the financial services index improved 67.04 points to 15,990.66, and the industrial products and services index perked 1.43 points to 171.58. – Bernama, September 29, 2022
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