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KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia traded slightly lower at the opening today, tracking the weaker overnight Wall Street performance amid concerns that inflationary pressure may not be transitionary and an interest rate hike may come sooner than expected, said an analyst.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.29 of-a-point lower at 1,524.84 from 1,525.13 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 0.55 of-a-point easier at 1,524.58.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 218 to 116, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,748 untraded, and 21 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 195.73 million units worth RM79.46 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may remain cautious over the near term while awaiting more corporate earnings reports, as well as further guidance from the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) on the monetary policies going forward.
“Market players might be speculating on an earlier interest rate hike,” it said in a note today.
Selling pressure in oil and gas counters mounted following comments from Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries chief over possible oil surplus in the near term that contributed to the decline in oil prices overnight, but still hovering above the US$80 (RM334.48) per barrel mark, the research firm said.
“Besides, the spike in Covid-19 cases may prompt traders to look at glove companies at least over the near term,” it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals eased one sen each to RM8.06 and RM8.30 respectively, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.05 and RM6.55 respectively.
Of the actives, WZ Satu rose 3.5 sen to 26 sen, Tanco bagged one sen to 27.5 sen, while Advance Synergy erased one sen to 12 sen and Sapura Energy was flat at 10 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 6.24 points to 11,225.14, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 4.26 points to 10,897.11, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 7.26 points to 12,223.28, the FBM ACE strengthened 7.65 points to 6,811.79, and the FBM 70 was 14.37 points lower at 14,811.12.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 3.17 points to 15,195.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.43 of-a-point to 198.93, and the Plantation Index bagged 18.64 points to 6,562.54.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today following mixed signal coming from Fed officials amidst lower than expected housing starts statistics, said an analyst.
At 9am, the local note rose to 4.1750/1770 versus the greenback from 4.1795/1810 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the housing starts fell 0.7% month-on-month to 1.52 million in October versus the consensus estimates of 0.6% growth.
“The latest statistics suggest that rising building material prices and labour shortages have taken a toll on the macroeconomy,” he said.
Afzanizam said remarks from Fed officials were mixed on the tapering process to be completed by the middle of next year, while the Fed will asses the impact of monetary policy accommodation to inflation.
“Besides, the US dollar index slipped to 95.783 points. Given that, the ringgit could gain some ground today following the decline in the US dollar,” he said.
As such, Afzanizam expects the local note to trade within a range of RM4.17 to RM4.18.
The local note was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except the euro where it strengthened to 4.7269/7292 from 4.7274/7291 at yesterday’s close.
The ringgit slipped against the British pound to 5.6304/6331 from 5.6127/6147, decreased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6555/6576 from 3.6394/6410, and fell against the Singapore dollar at 3.0785/0802 from 3.0772/0788 previously. – Bernama, November 18, 2021