KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit reversed yesterday’s gains to open lower against the United States dollar today amid falling crude oil prices and a spike in US Treasury yields.
At 9am, the local unit fell 120 basis points to 4.1210/1260 versus the greenback, from 4.1090/1140 at the close yesterday.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade, weighed by the weaker overnight performance by Wall Street and the oil market.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 2.71 points to 1,625.28 from yesterday’s close of 1,627.99.
The index was 3.05 points higher at 1,631.04 at 9am, and started to turn lower a minute after the opening.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 431 to 132, while 299 counters were unchanged, 1,385 untraded and 55 suspended.
Total volume stood at 553.83 million shares worth RM224.41 million. – Bernama, March 19, 2021
