KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened marginally higher against the United States dollar today following the tepid US economic data released last week, despite a decline in oil prices, a dealer said.
At 9.07am, the local currency was trading at 4.2000/2030 against the greenback from 4.2070/2080 at Friday’s close.
The dealer said US non-farm payroll data showed that the US economy added only a mere 199,000 jobs in the last month of the year 2021, down from 249,000 in November.
“Even though the US dollar index fell amid a disappointing US December jobs report, the US dollar may turn muted against the ringgit this week and is expected to trade around the 4.21 level due to lingering Omicron worries,” he said.
He said the local note may face another round of sell-off if the US inflation rate spikes again, increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would kick off its policy normalisation sooner.
At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price fell 0.37% to US$81.45 (RM342.25) per barrel.
At opening, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of other major currencies.
It depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0983/1007 from Friday’s close of 3.0958/0981 and dropped against the Japanese yen to 3.6342/6371 from 3.6320/6336.
The local currency eased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7091/7131 from 5.6999/7037 on Friday and weakened against the euro to 4.7691/7725 from 4.7602/7640.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher but retreated thereafter as mild profit-taking emerged in selected heavyweights following recent gains, dealers said.
At 9.22am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.99 points to 1,541.12 compared with 1,543.11 at Friday’s close.
The index opened 0.27 of-a-point better at 1,543.38.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 239 to 227, while 325 counters were unchanged, 1,482 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 624.36 million units valued at RM196.50 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note, said it expects investors to take a cautious approach in the technology sector.
“We expect to see some pullback in technology counters following Nasdaq’s decline, but it may be an opportunity to bargain hunt, given the long-term earnings visibility with the rising adoption of 5G and IoT equipment.
“Meanwhile, we remain upbeat on the banking, consumer and commodity sectors amid the potential interest rate hikes going forward and firmer commodity prices,” it said.
The research firm said FBM KLCI wrapped up the first week of 2022 with gains, driven mainly by those attained in plantation heavyweights.
Nevertheless, it expects traders to position themselves within the commodity-related sector, given the firm crude palm oil (CPO) and crude oil prices recently, with the CPO price hovering above RM4,990 per kg and Brent oil above US$81 per barrel.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank declined 2.0 sen to RM8.30, Public Bank fell 1.0 sen to to RM4.15, IHH Healthcare shed 3.0 sen to RM6.71, Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.79, while CIMB rose 1.0 sen to RM5.47.
Of the actives, MQ Tech advanced 2.5 sen to 13 sen, AHB Holdings added 3.0 sen to 23 sen, while Techna-X and SMTrack gained 1.0 sen each to 10 sen and 30.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 11.01 points lower at 11,206.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 15.58 points to 12,043.90, the FBM 70 eased 3.50 points to 14,323.91, and the FBMT 100 Index dipped 11.41 points to 10,892.23.
However, the FBM ACE improved 49.23 points to 6,741.26.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.04 of-a-point to 202.31, the Financial Services Index advanced 4.13 points to 15,711.55, while the Plantation Index reduced 29.31 points to 6,689.52. – Bernama, January 10, 2022
