KUALA LUMPUR (May 3): Malaysian corporate financials will continue to be in focus as investors evaluate the impact of the stronger yen to world markets.

Bursa Malaysia-listed firms have started reporting their financials for the January-to-March quarter since April although most companies tend to file their earnings in May.

Amid a firmer yen, investors may also consider the impact on Malaysian companies with substantial yen-denominated debt and imports.

Last Friday, the FBM KLCI dropped 2.04 points or 0.1% to settle at 1,672.72 after sliding to an intraday low at 1,660.92 as investors evaluated the impact of a stronger yen on global share markets.

Yesterday, Malaysian markets were closed for the Labour Day holiday while Japan's Nikkei  225 fell 3.11%. The ringgit had weakened to 3.6805 against the yen compared to 3.5147 last Wednesday.

Reuters reported that a 3% drop in Japanese shares and weakness in the banking sector kept financial markets on edge on Monday. The yen, which tends to gain when investors worry about growth, reached 106.14 yen per dollar in early Asian trade before handing back some of last week's almost 5% gain.

That was the yen's biggest weekly rise since the 2008 financial crisis, thanks largely to a Bank of Japan policy meeting that gave no hint of further efforts to stimulate a long-moribund economy with more outright money-printing.

Japan markets will be closed today, tomorrow and Thursday for the Golden Week holidays.

US shares rose in overnight trades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.66%, S&P 500 climbed 0.78% while Nasdaq Composite was 0.88%  higher.

In commodity markets, Brent oil for July delivery fell US$1.54 or 3.3% to US$45.83 a barrel while US oil dropped US$1.14 or 2.5% to US$44.78 a barrel.