Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): Shares of rubber glove makers climbed today as the ringgit continues to weaken against the US dollar, which benefits export-oriented counters.

At 3.25pm, the ringgit was trading at 4.1880 against the greenback — a two-month low — after weakening 0.0105 or 0.25% from yesterday's close.

Over on Bursa Malaysia, shares in Top Glove Corp Bhd were up 8 sen or 1.77% at RM4.60, with 3.91 million shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM11.95 billion. The counter rose as much as 4% or 18 sen earlier this morning, before paring some of its gains.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd shares were up 16 sen or 3.29% at RM5.02, with 2.23 million shares done. Its latest share price gives it a market capitalisation of RM16.92 billion. Notably, it was up as much as 5.6% or 27 sen earlier this morning.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, which climbed as much as 20 sen or 5% to RM4.20 during morning trades, was trading at RM4.14, still up 14 sen or 3.5%, at the time of writing, giving it a market capitalisation of RM5.35 billion. It saw about 1.55 million shares traded.

The stronger US dollar came on the heels of US President Donald Trump's announcement on social media last Friday that the US will impose a 10% tariff on another US$300 billion of Chinese imports.

Subsequently, China allowed the yuan to weaken past the key 7-per-US dollar mark on Monday for the first time in more than a decade, in an apparent response to Trump's tariff threat.

"There's been a shift in expectation in terms of the trend of US dollar and the ringgit," RHB head of regional equity research Alexander Chia told theedgemarkets.com.

"The consensus was for a gradual weakening of the US dollar on the back of anticipated cuts of interest rates in the second half or 2019. Clearly, the recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision [of a 25-basis-point cut and a slightly dovish remark by Federal Reserve's chair Jerome Powell] have muddied the water. Now, the market is trying to make out if he (Powell) is going to cut some more or not as much as anticipated," said Chia.

"The previous consensus for a weakening dollar is not so clear cut anymore and the US dollar is going the other way (strengthening)," he added.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share