KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar this morning, despite the markets’ uncertainty over what to expect from the upcoming US interest rate decision, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local note was traded at 4.4050/4130 against the US dollar, compared with 4.4260/4320 at the close yesterday.
ActivTrades Trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the decrease in the recent US inflation rate sent a clear message to investors that perhaps the US Federal Reserve would not have to act as incisively over the next year and might adopt a more dovish tone throughout 2023.
The US inflation data came in lower than expected (7.1% real against 7.3% forecast).
“The consequence of a more flexible stance on the part of the Fed could be a fall in interest rates, which could cause a possible devaluation of the US dollar against its counterparts,” he said in a note.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded easier against a basket of major currencies.
The local note fell further against the British pound to 5.4419/4518 from 5.4307/4381 at yesterday’s close and eased versus the euro to 4.6843/6928 from 4.6646/6709 yesterday.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2702/2767 from 3.2640/2689 and declined against the Japanese yen to 3.2550/2614 from 3.2142/2188 at yesterday’s close.
Bursa Malaysia also opened slightly higher today, mirroring gains on Wall Street overnight, driven by the encouraging US inflation data amid lingering cautious sentiments, an analyst said.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.58 points to 1,472.70 from yesterday’s closing of 1,470.12.
The market bellwether opened 1.77 points higher at 1,471.89.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 220 to 107, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,730 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 168.04 million units worth RM79.43 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended in positive territory as the US consumer price index came in lower than the forecast; hence, many expect the Fed to be less aggressive in hiking rates.
On the home front, he said, the local bourse is expected to trade within a tight range, in tandem with the regional markets.
“We reckon the FBM KLCI index will trend within the 1,470-1,485 range.
“We anticipate buying to focus on oil and gas counters following the rebound in crude oil prices, spurred by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in China,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was unchanged at RM8.75, Public Bank rose two sen to RM4.37, CIMB added one sen to RM5.77 and TNB gained six sen to RM9.27, while Petronas Chemicals eased one sen to RM8.47.
Of the actives, SNS added two sen to 27 sen, Borneo Oil and Dataprep were unchanged at 2.5 sen and 25.5 sen respectively, Advance Synergy ticked up half-a-sen to 17.5 sen, and YX Precious rose 1.5 sen to 23 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 15.22 points to 10,594.76, the FBMT 100 Index ticked up 14.35 points to 10,296.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index strengthened 34.90 points to 10,742.71, the FBM 70 edged up 3.32 points to 13,009.32, while the FBM ACE eased 0.25 of-a-point to 5,494.65. – Bernama, December 14, 2022
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 16.98 points lower at 16,555.15, while the Plantation Index earned 29.86 points to 6,715.80, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.38 of-a-point to 180.99, and the Energy Index climbed 5.35 points to 790.07.
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