KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened higher in the early trading session today, as oil prices continued to rally, despite weaker performance on Wall Street and regional markets, a dealer said.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 4.84 points to 1,588.68 from 1,583.84 at yesterday’s close, after opening 2.12 points higher at 1,585.96.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 241 to 133, while 269 counters were unchanged, 1,569 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened little changed against the US dollar today amid expectations of a stronger US dollar due to a potentially sharp increase in the US Federal Fund Rate in March, an analyst said.
At 9am, the local currency was marginally higher at 4.1860/1890 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.1885/1920.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar index has risen by 0.22% to 96.293 points.
“A US Federal Reserve official has maintained his hawkish stance by saying the Fed should front load its monetary tightening move, a sign that 50 basis points increment in the upcoming meeting is a foregone conclusion,” he told Bernama.
Following that, Afzanizam said the ringgit should stay in a narrow range as elevated levels of Brent crude oil prices could put a lid on weaker ringgit.
He anticipated that the ringgit would continue to linger around RM4.19 today.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against other major currencies.
It increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6277/6306 from 3.6415/6449 Monday’s close and appreciated to 4.7348/7382 from 4.7372//7416 compared with the euro.
The local note depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1081/1106 from 3.1074/1105 and fell against the British pound to 5.6683/6723 from 5.6603/6651. – Bernama, February 15, 2022
