KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking the weakness in Wall Street performance overnight.
At 9.05am, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eased 2.98 points to 1,588.34 from yesterday’s close of 1,591.32.
The index opened 0.23 of a point easier at 1,591.22.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 255 to 127, while 281 counters were unchanged, 1,541 untraded and seven suspended.
The ringgit, meanwhile, opened slightly higher against the United States dollar in early trade, as the latter’s performance is pulled by lower-than-expected building permits and a weaker dollar index.
At 9am, the local currency traded at 4.1230/1270 against the greenback from 4.1250/1280 at yesterday’s close.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the market will pay close attention to the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes today, which may include some clues on monetary policies for the months ahead.
“From a technical point of view, the market had been trading below an important resistance at 4.1350. If the price breaks above that level, an upward move could be seen until Friday.” – Bernama, May 19, 2021
