KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit eased against the US dollar this morning due to firmer demand for the greenback as the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated the possibility of a significant interest rate adjustment to bring the US’ rising inflation under control, analysts said.
At 9am, the local currency stood at 4.4670/4700 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4660/4685.
In its latest policy meeting minutes, the Fed said that it saw “little evidence” late last month that the US’ inflation was subsiding and recognised that it would take a considerable amount of time for the situation to be resolved.
However, the ringgit's losses were capped by rising oil prices, with oil benchmark Brent crude trading around US$93 (RM415.62) per barrel.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies this morning.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2334/2361 from 3.2315/2338 at yesterday’s close, and declined against the euro at 4.5501/5531 from 4.5455/5480 previously.
The local unit was also flat vis-a-vis the Japanese yen at 3.3126/3150 from 3.3126/3147 yesterday, but improved versus the British pound to 5.3827/3864 from 5.4048/4078 previously.
Bursa Malaysia opened lower but rebounded thereafter on renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights amid cautious sentiments in the regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.15 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.56 points to 1,520.72 from 1,518.16 at yesterday’s close.
The benchmark index opened 1.38 points easier at 1,516.78.
On the broader market, however, decliners led gainers 213 to 115, while 232 counters were unchanged, 1,738 untraded, and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 252.95 million units worth RM119.70 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in view of the softer Wall Street performance, sentiment on the local bourse may turn cautious as attention shifts back to the Fed’s interest rate policy following the release of its July meeting minutes.
“Nevertheless, investors may look out for the upcoming earnings season, focusing on stocks with solid earnings growth under this environment.
“Meanwhile, sectors such as transportation and logistics, consumer and Real Estate Investment Trust are likely to remain bullish,” it said in a note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals added 5 sen each to RM9.02 and RM8.77, respectively, Public Bank advanced 2 sen to RM4.67 and CIMB went up 1 sen to RM5.46, while IHH Healthcare slipped 2 sen to RM6.48.
Of the actives, Pegasus Heights eased half-a-sen to 1 sen and MyEG fell 1.5 sen to 79 sen, while ACE Market debutant AGMO Holdings jumped 47 sen to 73 sen and Cnergenz improved 4 sen to 76.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 7.84 points to 10,751.68, the FBMT 100 Index perked 9.45 points to 10,501.60, and the FBM ACE increased 33.57 points to 4,982.83, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 8.10 points to 10,892.14 and the FBM 70 fell 21.87 points to 12,744.68.
The Financial Services Index rose 53.47 points to 16,842.25, the Plantation Index shed 4.60 points to 7,290.12, the Energy Index slipped 0.63 of-a-point to 658.97, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.16 of-a-point to 183.41. – Bernama, August 18, 2022
