KUALA LUMPUR – Trading on Bursa Malaysia was cautious at the opening today, taking the cue from mixed Wall Street performance last Friday.
At 9.11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 1.08 points to 1,475.82 from Friday’s close of 1,476.90, after opening 2.65 points weaker at 1,474.25.
Market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 184 to 176, while 261 counters were unchanged, 1,607 untraded and 29 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 293.58 million units worth RM119.57 million.
In a research note today, Hong Leong Investment Bank said the FBM KLCI may be stuck in an extended sideways consolidation this week awaiting clearer cues from the Budget 2023 presentation and the local ongoing results season in line with the hawkish US Federal Reserve and sluggish ringgit performance.
The investment bank expected support level for the benchmark index at between 1,460.0 and 1,470 with the resistance level at 1,487-1,500 today.
In the meantime, Bursa heavyweight IHH Healthcare added nine sen to RM6.07, Digi jumped 24 sen to RM4.54, Maybank was down 4 sen at RM8.71, Public Bank was flat at RM4.15 while Petronas Chemicals shed four sen to RM8.24 and Tenaga Nasional slipped six sen to RM9.83.
As for the actives, Ho Wah Genting gained one sen to 15.5 sen, Euro Holdings edged up half-a-sen to 14.5 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated was flat at 18.5 sen, Iris Corp and Luster Industries eased half sen each to 11.5 sen and 9.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 10.20 points to 10,731.96, the FBMT 100 Index went down 11.63 points to 10,398.61, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 9.24 points to 11,093.24, the FBM 70 Index dipped 32.47 points to 13,492.96 and the FBM ACE Index increased 6.65 points to 5,666.31.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index widened 21.28 points to 6,858.96, the Energy Index declined 3.88 points to 879.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.09 point to 189.43, and the Financial Services Index slipped by 5.11 points to 16,031.11.
The ringgit recovered to open higher against the US dollar today on renewed buying interest ahead of the scheduled release of minutes from the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) reading this week, said an analyst.
At 9am, the ringgit rebounded to 4.4250/4335 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.4310/4345
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the release of PCE inflation data this Friday would set the stage for Federal Reserve officials’ forecast updates at the March 22 meeting.
“Nevertheless, the local note opened stronger today based on the recovery of the Japanese yen and China’s yuan during last Friday’s trading session,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit eased against the Japanese yen to 3.2922/2987 from 3.2864/2892 at Friday’s close, fell vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3087/3155 from 3.3062/3093, weakened versus the euro to 4.7255/7345 from 4.7137/7174 and slid against the British pound to 5.3184/3286 from 5.2919/2961 previously. – Bernama, February 20, 2023
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