KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower on Friday, as cautious sentiment persisted, with investors remaining on the sidelines amid ongoing conflicts in West Asia, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,695.50 from Thursday’s close of 1,698.30. The benchmark index opened 5.82 points higher at 1,704.12, and moved between 1,693.65 and 1,708.12 throughout the day. However, market breadth remained positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 415, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,077 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 3.38 billion units worth RM2.95 billion from yesterday’s 3.20 billion units worth RM3.50 billion.
A lot of us Malaysians are probably upset with the depreciation of the Ringgit. Weakened Ringgit The Ringgit has weakened to multi-year low and breached the previous low of RM3.73 to the USD and according to a lot of research, it is inching towards the pegged level of RM3.80/USD. This morning, while I was driving to work, I heard from BFM on their discussion. Apparently, our foreign reserve exchange is stand at an estimate of around 100 billion USD. If you're like me, you'll probably feel the pinch as I'm earning in RM. To talk about travelling would be a pain in the ass now because I'll have to fork out more most of the time. I suspect gadgets like Apple products might see another increase if the drop in the currency continues. Even then, Zeti insist that the RM is still strong and it's only at this level due to negative sentiments. I'm not sure if I'm buying it but as Ringgit continues to weaken, perhaps it's time to look at who...