• UK records first Omicron death

• MYR to fluctuate in the range of 4.2150 and 4.2350 against US dollar

Global Highlights

The dollar index rose 0.23% to land at 96.317 level on investors' expectation of the Federal Reserve announcing faster tapering ahead of the its meeting. On the data front, US consumer inflation expectations for the year ahead edged up to a fresh record of 6% in November from 5.7% in October.

Equities were in the red when the Dow Jones fell 0.89% to 35,651, while the S&P 500 slid 0.91% to 4,669. The UST 10-year benchmark yield nose-dived 6.8bps to 1.416% while gold climbed 0.21% to US$1,787/oz.

The euro shed 0.26% to 1.128 amidst a surging infection Covid rate in Europe. Similarly, the British pound declined 0.42% to 1.322 following news of the first UK death recorded of the Omicron variant.

The Japanese yen weakened by 0.09% to 113.54. Among local data, the Bank of Japan's index for big manufacturers' sentiment stood at 18 in the final quarter of 2021, matching the almost 3-year high in the previous quarter (cons. 19). The Chinese yuan strengthened 0.05% to 6.367.

Crude oil closed lower when the Brent tumbled 1.01% to US$74 per barrel and the WTI lost 0.53% to US$71 per barrel. The market seemed to be on the edge still as rising Covid cases globally could reduce oil demand and there is new doubt on the vaccine efficacy in combatting Omicron.

Malaysia Highlights:

The ringgit started the week on losing ground as it depreciated 0.38% to its intraday low at 4.229 and reached a high of 4.2077.

The FBM KLCI recovered some last week’s losses as it jumped 0.40% to 1,495 amidst a mixed regional performance. It was driven by the net buying position of RM53.2mil from local institutions and retailers but being offset by foreign investors' net selling.

The local bond market saw little action. The 3-year yield was +4.0bps to 2.790%, 5-year +1.0bps to 3.160%, 7-year +2.0bps to 3.480%, but the 10-year steadied at 3.580%.

The IRS yield curve was mixed when the (3Y) was at -3.0bps to 2.725%, and (10Y) -3.2bps to 3.310%, and the (7Y) -0.2bps to 3.185% but the (5Y) +0.5bps to 2.955%. Elsewhere, KLIBOR +1.0bps to 2.030%.

Against major currencies, the ringgit was weaker across the board. It weakened vs. the EUR by 0.28% to 4.765, vs. the GBP by 0.36% to 5.583, vs. the AUD by 0.24% to 3.019, vs. the JPY by 0.26% to 3.723 and vs. the CNY by 0.42% to 1.506. Against its regional peers, the ringgit was also weaker. It depreciated vs. the SGD by 0.13% to 3.088, vs. the THB by 1.03% to 7.911, vs. the IDR by 0.65% to 3,389, vs. the PHP by 0.23% to 11.924 and vs. the VND by 0.52% to 5,432.

MYR Outlook For The Day

We expect the MYR to trade between our support level of 4.2090 and 4.2150 while our resistance is pinned at 4.2350 and 4.2390.

Source: AmInvest Research - 14 Dec 2021