KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today, but mild profit-taking activities are expected due to the winning streak over the last few days, a dealer said.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI earned 0.41 of-a-point to 1,540.30 after the key index closed at 1,539.89 yesterday.
The index opened 0.5 of-a-point higher at 1,540.39.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 141 to 106, while 206 counters were unchanged, 1,858 untraded and 37 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 76.25 million units valued at RM51.69 million.
The ringgit opened lower against the United States dollar today amid mixed data in the US and a correction in major benchmark equity markets, an analyst said.
At 9am, the local note stood at 4.1800/1830 versus the greenback from 4.1785/1830 at yesterday’s close.
Hence, the ringgit versus the US dollar could experience some correction today, as the local unit has appreciated in the past few days, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said.
“It’s quite a listless market, given that not much market moving data, although developments over the Omicron variant are quite encouraging,” he said.
At the moment, he expects the resistance and support level for the domestic unit to stand at RM4.1862 and RM4.1498, respectively.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of other major currencies.
It appreciated against the British pound to 5.6158/6199 from 5.6188/6249 at yesterday’s close and climbed versus the euro to 4.7280/7314 from 4.7355/7406.
However, the local unit depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.6402/6431 from 3.6401/6444 and shrank vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.0865/0889 from 3.0860/0898 previously. – Bernama, December 29, 2021
