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KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open slightly higher today on renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights, amid cautious sentiments in the regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.17am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.22 of-a-point to 1,516.84 from 1,516.62 at yesterday’s close.
The benchmark index opened 0.20 of-a-point better at 1,516.82.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners at 200 versus 150, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,719 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 191.51 million units worth RM121.12 million.
As the United States markets are still looking for direction, the local bourse might take a breather today amidst softer inflows of foreign funds, said Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd.
“Investors will be focusing on the ongoing reporting season to position themselves in the stock markets,” it said in a note today.
The brokerage also noted that crude oil price had surged above the US$96 (RM429) per barrel mark, while crude palm oil was traded above RM4,000/tonne.
“We opine that the positive momentum in the energy sector should sustain as the crude oil price is showing an uptick and selected oil and gas companies have released decent results.
“Besides, sectors such as banking, consumer and real estate investment trust (REIT) should stay attractive throughout the earnings season,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals added 10 sen to RM8.85, IHH Healthcare and CIMB gained 1.0 sen each to RM6.52 and RM5.48, respectively, Maybank slipped 4.0 sen to RM8.91 and Public Bank fell 1.0 sen to RM4.64.
Of the actives, AGMO Holdings rose 4.5 sen to 83 sen, Cnergenz earned 0.5 sen to 91.5 sen and JAKS Resources advanced 1.5 sen to 29 sen, while Serba Dinamik was flat at 9.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 0.15 of-a-point higher at 10,730.18, the FBMT 100 Index perked 5.48 points to 10,482.92, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 6.43 points to 10,877.39, the FBM 70 improved 22.63 points to 12,754.91, while the FBM ACE decreased 23.08 points to 4,949.07.
The Financial Services Index shed 27.95 points to 16,791.39, while the Plantation Index added 2.28 points to 7,291.23, the Energy Index gained 6.10 points to 673.63, and the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 0.61 of-a-point to 183.64.
Meanwhile, the ringgit extended its downtrend against the US dollar today as demand for the greenback continued to surge due to positive readings on US economic health, said an analyst.
At 9am, the local currency dipped to a 67-month low of 4.4795/4820 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4720/4750.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar strengthened after the announcement of better-than-expected US Initial Jobless Claims data, which showed that the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits dipped to 250,000 versus the forecast of 265,000.
“Despite the recent flow of positive data which painted a positive picture for the US economy, the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes released yesterday seemed to suggest that the US central bank is still not looking into slowing down the pace of interest rate hikes.
“This highlights the possibility of further appreciation of the US dollar against other currencies and against ringgit,” he said.
He noted that the US dollar/ringgit pairing could very well hit the 4.5000 mark.
“However, if the price manages to break below 4.4550, it could drop to 4.4000 within a few days,” Diniz added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded better against a basket of major currencies.
It gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.2299/2321 from 3.2371/2397 at yesterday’s close, and improved against the euro at 4.5153/5179 from 4.5471/5502 previously.
The local unit also increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen at 3.2877/3298 from 3.3077/3102 yesterday, and rose against the British pound to 5.3351/3381 from 5.3959/3995 yesterday. – Bernama, August 19, 2022