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KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit eased further against the US dollar this morning, continuing yesterday’s retracement as the greenback regained ground on the expectation of more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, an analyst said.
At 9am, the local note slipped to 4.5420/5505 against the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.5400/5485.
The ringgit also traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It gained versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3148/3213 from 3.3185/3252 at yesterday’s close and strengthened against the euro to 4.7178/7266 from 4.7311/7400 yesterday.
However, the local currency eased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2568/2634 from 3.2561/2624 yesterday and depreciated versus the British pound to 5.4077/4178 from 5.4017/4118 previously.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-morning, as selected heavyweights came under selling pressure, said a dealer.
At 11.01 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 4.23 points to 1,444.15 from yesterday’s close of 1,448.38.
The market bellwether opened 1.82 points easier at 1,446.56.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 434 to 227, while 299 counters were unchanged, 1,372 untraded, and 47 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 901.17 million units valued at RM536.60 million.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare contracted 1 sen each to RM8.52, RM4.31 and RM5.96, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals gained 2 sen to RM8.64 and CIMB added 4 sen to RM5.39.
Among the actives, Advance Synergy widened 1 sen to 13 sen, Perdana Petroleum increased 2.5 sen to 11.5 sen, and Malayan United Industries rose half-a-sen to 9 sen. Meanwhile, Top Glove lost 3.5 sen to 92.5 sen and Malaysia Steel Works (KL) eased half-a-sen to 35.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 60.73 points to 10,392.08, the FBM Emas Index declined 32.06 points to 10,262.90, the FBM ACE slid 57.21 points to 4,939.96, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 30.02 points to 9,993.84, and the FBM 70 shrank 39.77 points to 12,214.28.
Sector-wise, the plantation index fell 28.20 points to 6,874.00, the energy index reduced 3.30 points to 716.80, and the industrial products and services index inched down 0.15 of a point to 178.62, while the financial services index bagged 39.03 points to 16,128.34. – Bernama, November 17, 2022
