KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit retreated from its gains last week to open lower against the US dollar today amid mixed sentiment in the market as investors continue to seek the safe-haven greenback, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local currency eased to 4.6400/6445 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6360/6390.
Kenanga Research said in a note that global market uncertainties, on top of the United Kingdom’s sterling crisis and a looming recession in Europe, have boosted demand for the US dollar, further pressuring emerging currencies, including the ringgit.
The continued hawkishness of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), coupled with the red-hot US labour market, may spark another cycle of sell-off in riskier assets with the greenback rallying, it added.
“The ringgit may continue to trade above the 4.6000 threshold level against the greenback as the US dollar index is expected to trade above the 112.0 level,” the research house said.
On the home front, investors are also keeping a close watch on the upcoming Budget 2023 scheduled to be tabled on Friday, which may partially cap the ringgit’s losses.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the British pound to 5.1657/1707 from 5.1728/1762 last week, gained against the Japanese yen to 3.2049/2082 from 3.2103/2126, and appreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2323/2359 from 3.2343/2368.
However, the local note inched down vis-à-vis the euro to 4.5495/5539 from Friday’s close of 4.5428/5458.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower this morning, tracking the fall on Wall Street and global markets last Friday, a dealer said.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated 3.70 points to 1,390.93 from Friday’s close of 1,394.63.
The benchmark index opened 0.93 of a point easier at 1,393.70.
On the broader market, decliners trounced gainers 224 to 83, while 198 counters were unchanged, 1,848 untraded, and 31 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 96.49 million units worth RM41.53 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street extended its slide last Friday after the strong US personal spending data for August 2022 led to the continued expectation of aggressive interest rate hikes by the American central bank.
“We believe global market turmoil will likely continue, stemming from fears that elevated inflation rates will cause a recession,” it said in a research note today.
Back home, the brokerage expects mild bargain-hunting activities to emerge ahead of Budget 2023 this week.
The tabling of the Budget 2023 is scheduled on October 7.
Commodities-wise, the price of crude oil fell to trade around US$85 per barrel, while the crude palm oil gained momentum to close above RM3,410 per tonne, tracking soybean oil gains.
Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank declined one sen each to RM8.57 and RM4.22, respectively, CIMB went down two sen to RM5.11, Petronas Chemicals improved one sen to RM8.40 while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.90.
Of the actives, SNS Network Technology and Vinvest Capital Holdings gained half-a-sen each to 28 sen and 20 sen, respectively, while Harvest Miracle Capital added two sen to 12 sen.
XOX eased half-a-sen to 1.5 sen and PT Resources was flat at 46 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 32.83 points to 9,944.03, the FBM 70 slipped by 56.31 points to 12,145.50, and the FBMT 100 Index gave up 30.42 points to 9,698.28.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 40.96 points to 9,967.07, and the FBM ACE contracted 10.70 points to 4,647.17.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index was down by 3.51 points to 666.67, the Financial Services Index declined by 10.34 points to 15,912.11, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.88 of-a-point to 168.99, while the Plantation Index went up 17.89 points to 6,491.65. – Bernama, October 3, 2022
