KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished marginally lower at midday in the absence of market moving factors while the ringgit appreciated to three week high level against the US dollar.
The dollar weakened before key central bankers meet at a symposium in Jackson Hole, in the US. The US dollar to ringgit fell 0.1% to 4.2770 after reaching 4.2765, lowest since Aug. 4.
At midday, the ringgit was flat against at 4.2790.
Dealers expect the index to remain range-bound as investors were waiting for the upcoming speeches by the world’s top central bankers later in the day.
At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI slipped 0.90 of-a-point to 1,772.85. The index opened 0.19 of-a-point lower at 1,772.75 from Wednesday’s close of 1,772.94.
Losers thumped gainers at 323 to 391 while 339 counters unchanged. Turnover stood at 1.13 billion shares worth RM776.33mil.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Research expects the sideways trend on KLCI to persist over near term.
“With Trump’s uncertain move on his economic agenda, we believe it will not bode well for the market environment. Hence, we opine that the upside of the stock markets will be limited around 22,000-22,200.
“Meanwhile, stocks on the local front may still trade on a sideways tone amid the on-going financial reporting season as investors remain cautious and deploying the wait-and-see strategy over the near term. The KLCI could hover between the 1,765-1,775 levels,” it said.
Overnight, US markets declined after President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the government if his border wall was not funded. Earlier, European stocks ended lower with media counters being the laggards.
JF Apex said following the bearish performance in the US and Europe, the FBM KLCI could remain lacklustre and hover sideways below the resistance of 1,800 points.
At Bursa Malaysia, Dutch Lady
fell 20 sen to RM59, Kotra lost 11 sen to RM1.89 while JCBNext declined 11 sen to RM1.69.
Ambank shares retreated for the second day following its failed merger of their businesses and undertakings with RHB Bank. AmBank fell 11 sen, or 2.4% to RM4.48 while RHB Bank rose one sen to RM5.08.
F&N rose 30 sen to RM24.74, Orient added 19 sen to RM6.79 while LTKM gained 14 sne to RM1.64.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.28%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.61%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.4%.
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