KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday amid mixed regional market performance as investors turned cautious over a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and upcoming US economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision next week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most earlier losses to settle 4.55 points easier, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,616.52 from Thursday’s close of 1,621.07. The benchmark index, which opened 0.37 of-a-point lower at 1,620.70, moved between 1,609.67 and 1,621.25 throughout the day. The broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 604 to 439. A total of 550 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from 4.48 billion units worth RM2.75 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-presiden...
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): The FBM KLCI fell 3.49 points or 0.2% as the ringgit weakened against the US dollar to levels seen during the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
At 5pm today, the KLCI closed at 1,634.30 points. The ringgit depreciated to its weakest level against the US dollar so far today at 4.4805. Bloomberg reported that the exchange rate was the weakest since January 1998.
Today, JF Apex Securities Bhd research head Lee Chung Cheng told theedgemarkets.com: "Basically the market's performance today is in line with US markets (which were also down) and weak ringgit. We believe there is a lack of catalysts to excite the local market at this point."
The ringgit weakened after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week and indicated further hikes in 2017. Such sentiment was in anticipation of higher US inflation due to US President-elect Donald Trump's planned expansionary fiscal policies.
At Bursa Malaysia today, the exchange saw 1.33 billion shares valued at RM1.35 billion traded.
There were 307 gainers and 401 decliners.
Source: The Edge
Comments
Post a Comment