KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index rebounded from earlier losses to close at its intraday high on Wednesday, gaining 0.27 per cent in late trading as buying interest returned to selected heavyweights. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 4.48 points to 1,676.83 from Tuesday’s close of 1,672.35. The benchmark index opened 0.88 of-a-point lower at 1,671.47 and subsequently hit a low of 1,665.94 during the mid-morning session before gaining momentum toward closing. On the broader market, losers led gainers by 565 to 512, while some 526 counters were unchanged, 1,046 untraded, and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.76 billion versus Tuesday’s 2.66 billion units worth RM2.76 billion. Dealers said that investors were cautious following geopolitical developments in Asia.
KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): The FBM KLCI fell 18.35 points or 1.04%, tracking Asian share losses as investors evaluated the impact of the US-China trade spat on world markets.
The ringgit weakened past the 4.0000 level against the US dollar.
At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI closed at 1,743.43 points at 5pm after falling to its intraday low at 1,735.30. Among Asian share markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.75% while South Korea's Kospi sank 1.16%. China markets were closed today for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
Reuters reported that Asian shares fell to a 2-1/2 week low on Monday after US President Donald Trump cranked up trade tensions by going ahead with tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to immediately respond in kind.
It was also reported that emerging Asian exchange rates slipped broadly on Monday with heightening global trade tensions sparking sharp falls in the region's export-correlated currencies. The dollar index, measuring it against a basket of six major peers, was close to 95.131, a peak scaled on Friday, thanks to the dollar soaring more than 1 percent last week after the US Federal Reserve gave a hawkish signal on interest rates while the European Central Bank struck a dovish tone.
In Malaysia today, Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com: “Foreign net outflows from Bursa Malaysia amounted to RM8 billion since May 2, and the emerging market currencies also fell (depreciated) against the US dollar after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates."
In currency markets, the ringgit weakened to 4.0015 against the US dollar earlier today. At the time of writing, the exchange rate was 3.9978.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 1.91 billion shares valued at RM2.04 billion were traded. Top decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd.
The top-active stock was Kretam Holdings Bhd, which saw some 167 million shares traded. Kretam fell 23.5 sen to close at 46 sen. Earlier today, the stock hit limit down after falling by as much as 30 sen to 39.5 sen.
Source: The Edge
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