KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened slightly lower against the United States dollar today as the greenback strengthened against commodity currencies, underpinned by recovery optimism.
The local note was also trading in cautious mode amid selling pressure ahead of the weekend, as well as the release of Malaysia’s second-quarter gross domestic product report.
At 9am, the ringgit stood at 4.2350/2370 versus the dollar compared with 4.2300/2330 at the close yesterday.
Bursa Malaysia, meanwhile, rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open higher, driven by renewed buying interest amid mixed sentiment on the domestic economic outlook.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 3.08 points to 1,505.05 from yesterday’s close of 1,501.97.
The index opened 1.39 points better at 1,503.36.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 238 to 148, while 284 counters were unchanged, 1,546 untraded and 32 suspended.
Turnover stood at 361.36 million units worth RM148.99 million. – Bernama, August 13, 2021
