KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s downtrend to open higher in tandem with its regional peers, thanks to improved market sentiment.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 4.25 points to 1,495.58 from 1,491.33 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 2.32 points better at 1,493.65.
The ringgit, meanwhile, opened lower amid worries about Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 tally, which yesterday hit a record-high 19,819 cases.
At 9.07am, the local note weakened to 4.2240/2270 versus the United States dollar from 4.2180/2230 at the close yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that the number of vaccine doses administered per day has also dropped to below 500,000 of late.
“The weakness in the ringgit also coincides with the rise in US crude stockpiles by 3.6 million barrels to 439.2 million in the week to July 30, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum status report.
“Analysts tracked by investing.com had expected a drawdown of 3.1 million barrels instead.”
He said the weekly build in crude suggests that demand for energy may be slowing as Covid-19 caseloads across the world ramp up again due to the Delta variant. – Bernama, August 5, 2021
