Market Close KLCI gains on bargain hunting; ringgit under pressure

by **Cals** Thu 03 Sep 2015, 20:30

Market Close
KLCI gains on bargain hunting; ringgit under pressure

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): The FBM KLCI closed 12.56 points or 0.8% higher, as investors bargain hunted for beaten-down Malaysian stocks.
At 5pm, the KLCI settled at 1,602.75 points. The index's gain today followed yesterday's 19.02-point or 1.18% fall.
Today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd technical analyst Loui Low told theedgemarkets.com that investors saw value-buying opportunities, particularly among small-cap stocks.
“The uptrend (in KLCI) is still intact in the next one or two weeks, driven by bargain hunting. There might be a selldown, after investors get their capital gain.
"Therefore, I am holding a downtrend view for the medium term,” Low said.
Across Bursa Malaysia, there were 577 gainers versus 213 decliners, while 247 counters remained unchanged. Total volume traded was 1.71 billion shares, worth RM1.53 billion.
Top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, while Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd was the biggest decliner.
iDimension Consolidated Bhd was the most-traded counter, with some 92 million shares done.

Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.48%, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.02%. China markets were closed for a holiday today. Tomorrow, Hong Kong's Hang Seng resumes trading, while the Shanghai Composite extends its break.
Today, Asian shares had tracked US equity gains. Reuters reported that Wall Street stocks jumped almost 2% on Wednesday, which traders saw as a natural move after big falls. Despite Wednesday's rebound, shares have only recovered about half of the losses seen earlier in the week.
Reuters also reported many emerging market currencies remained under pressure, hit by China fears and the prospect of higher US interest rates.
The ringgit was not spared ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia's announcement tomorrow, on its international reserves. The global reserves will offer clues on how much ammunition the central bank has to support the ringgit against external factors.
Today, the ringgit weakened to 4.2485 against the US dollar and compared to the Singapore dollar, the ringgit depreciated to 2.9999. The ringgit dynamics came ahead of Malaysia's external trade updates tomorrow.