Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): Malaysia’s ringgit fell the most in a week amid a global selloff in equities and as energy prices slumped on signs China’s economy is slowing.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index of stocks dropped more than 1% Wednesday, raising concern more foreign investors will exit after dumping about $3 billion in shares this year. Brent crude tumbled 8.5% Tuesday in its biggest one-day slide since 2011 before data forecast to show US stockpiles increased. The price of the commodity has halved in the past year, cutting Malaysia’s export earnings and contributing to a 24% slump in the ringgit. A report Tuesday showed China’s official factory gauge fell to a three-year low last month.

An overnight drop in emerging-market currencies and a retreat in Brent “should see Asia falling back in line with the rest of the world where risk appetite remains impaired,” said Nizam Idris, the Singapore-based head of foreign-exchange and fixed-income strategy at Macquarie Bank Ltd. “Oil has been volatile.”

The ringgit weakened 1.4% to 4.2227 a dollar as of 10:08 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, the steepest decline in Asia, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It reached a 17-year low of 4.2990 on Aug 26.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index was poised for its biggest drop in more than a week, with energy services company SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd. sinking 2.2%. Brent crude lost a further 1.7%.

Government bonds fell, with the 10-year yield rising five basis points to 4.28% after dropping 17 basis points on Tuesday, Bursa Malaysia prices show.

 

 

 

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