KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia retreated from its gains last week to open lower today, taking its cue from negative Wall Street performance amid cautious sentiment.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 4.27 points to 1,472.92 from Friday’s closing of 1,477.19.
The market bellwether opened 1.58 points lower at 1,475.61.
On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 182 versus 147, while 236 counters were unchanged, 1,698 untraded and 12 others suspended.
The ringgit opened flat against the US dollar today, dampened by external factors as markets are hedging for a hawkish US Federal Reserve meeting outcome due to sticky inflation.
At 9am, the local note was traded at 4.4090/4160 against the US dollar from 4.4010/4080 at the close last Friday.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the ringgit was off to a shaky start this week after Friday’s higher-than-expected reading for the US producer price index cast an ominous shadow ahead of this week’s key consumer price index data. – Bernama, December 12, 2022
