KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bounced back while the ringgit maintained its positive run to open the trading session higher today.
On the local bourse, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was up 1.05 points at 9.05am to 1,499.44 from yesterday’s close of 1,498.39.
The market bellwether had opened the day a little higher, at 1,499.97.
Analysts attributed the reversal of Bursa’s decline to the strong performance on Wall Street overnight.
The US stock markets were given a boost by data showing that the gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded quicker than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4 2022) despite aggressive rate hikes.
Preliminary readings of the GDP data shows that it had expanded 2.9% year-on-year.
On the foreign exchange market, more investors shifted their interest towards emerging currencies, giving the ringgit another boost.
The local note opened the day at 4.2260/4.2310 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2450/4.2465.
Dealers said the higher global oil prices also worked in favour of the ringgit.