KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed lower today, in line with most regional markets, as investors adjusted their risk exposure amid spiralling oil prices driven by the ongoing West Asia conflict, now in its second month. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated by 24.75 points or 1.44 per cent to 1,687.90 from Friday’s close of 1,712.65. The market bellwether opened 10.57 points weaker at 1,702.08 and fluctuated between 1,682.79 and 1,702.38. The broader market was bearish, with decliners thumping advancers 956 to 371. A total of 373 counters were unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 134 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.98 billion units worth RM4.85 billion from last Friday’s 2.97 billion units worth RM3.25 billion.
The Ringgit weakened against the USD and this trend seems to continue and show no sign of slowing down.
| USD against MYR currency |
A quick search on google will show you this and it's scary because the spike doesn't seem to slow down and there's no sign of it any time soon.
And to make matters worse, the BNM International Reserve as of July 2015 has shrunk below US$100 billion.
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| BNM International Reserves shrunk below US$100 billion |
To put into perspective, this is the first time that the reserve has fall below this level since August 2010.
The central bank gave a statement today and said the reserves' position is sufficient to finance 7.6 months of retained imports and is 1.1 times the short-term external debt.
The concern on the Ringgit currency is real as it has depreciated for 8 consecutive days.
The local currency slipped further today to 3.9265 against the US dollar — the lowest level in 17 years — compared with Thursday's closing of 3.9125.

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