KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened at a fresh all-time low against the US dollar today as demand for the greenback strengthened due to its stature as a safe-haven currency, dealers said.
At 9am, the local note depreciated against the US dollar at 4.7105/7135 from last Friday’s closing of 4.7025/7065.
In a note today, Kenanga Research said the ringgit continued to slide versus the greenback on the back of rising domestic political uncertainty following the dissolution of Parliament.
“This week, the ringgit may continue to trade above the 4.70 level against the safe-haven dollar on sustained domestic political uncertainty and persistent global risk-aversion, as the United States Federal Reserve is expected to continue tightening its monetary policy aggressively.
“On the other hand, our technical model suggests the ringgit may appreciate by 0.44% to 4.684 against the US dollar,” it added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except for the Japanese yen.
The local note fell marginally against the British pound to 5.2871/2904 from 5.2870/2915 at last Friday’s close, depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5909/5938 from 4.5741/5780, and slipped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3024/3047 from 3.3009/3042.
But, it strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.1708/1732 from 3.1836/1867 previously.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened higher today but retreated within minutes as mild profit-taking emerged in selected heavyweights, amidst rising cautious sentiments in the regional markets, a dealer said.
At 9.18am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.19 of-a-point to 1,382.28 from Friday’s close of 1,382.47.
The benchmark index opened 1.03 points higher at 1,383.50.
On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 249 to 126, while 227 counters were unchanged, 1,743 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 200.65 million units worth RM100.40 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said last week Wall Street was unable to sustain its rebound due to profit-taking activities as the United States’ 10-year yield broke past the 4% level to 4.02%.
“The DJI Average lost 404 points while the Nasdaq declined by 328 points. In view of the heightened volatility, we expect regional markets to follow suit as we anticipate some selling pressure today.
“Locally, we reckon the FBM KLCI to remain lacklustre today and trend in the 1,375-1,390 range today,” he said, adding that technology stocks may face some headwinds today judging by the steep fall on Nasdaq last Friday.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 4.0 sen to RM8.49, Public Bank and CIMB went up 2.0 sen each to RM4.22 and RM5.32, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals slipped 10 sen to RM8.45 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.72.
Of the actives, Sunview gained 22.5 sen to 51.5 sen and Top Glove advanced 1.5 sen to 70.5 sen, while Sapura Energy was flat at 4.0 sen and Artroniq declined 3.5 sen to 61 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 12.78 points to 9,845.54, the FBM 70 fell 50.97 points to 11,853.73, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 10.72 points to 9,596.74, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 37.41 points to 9,817.38, and the FBM ACE reduced 26.74 points to 4,625.36.
Sector-wise, the financial services index was 32.59 points higher at 15,906.07, the industrial products and services index ticked down 1.31 points to 168.57, the plantation index slipped 1.66 points to 6,420.21, and the energy index declined 4.10 points to 664.59. – Bernama, October 17, 2022
