KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 19): The FBM KLCI rose 1.49 points or 0.1% on late buying of Genting Malaysia Bhd shares and as investors waited for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration tomorrow.

Fund managers said the weaker ringgit could have also attracted foreign investors into ringgit-denominated assets. At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,666.51 points after falling to its intraday low at 1,658.36 points.

KLCI entity Genting Malaysia shares rose nine sen to RM4.83 to become Bursa Malaysia's eighth-largest gainer. Bursa Malaysia saw 1.87 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion traded. There were 331 gainers and 446 decliners.

In currency markets, the ringgit weakened to 4.4485 against the US dollar at 5:30pm. "The cheap ringgit might have been attracting foreign investors, (a trend) which will promote the recovery of the ringgit," Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com.

"The change in sentiment can be seen as there are more foreign inflows since the New Year," Wong said.

Asian share markets fell. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.38% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.21%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares slipped on Thursday and the US dollar rebounded after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signalled that the US central bank is poised to pursue a path of interest rate hikes.

It was reported that investors remained anxious ahead of Trump's inauguration on Friday, with many using the event as an excuse to lock in gains on their positions.