The US

The Dollar Remained at 102.204, Due to Martin Luther King Day Yesterday.

US Equities & Sovereign Bonds

Dow Jones Remained at 34,303, S&P500 at 3,999, and Nasdaq Remained at 11,079.

The UST10Y Benchmark Yield Maintained at 3.504%, and the UST2Y at 4.230%.

Eurozone

The Euro declined by 0.07% to 1.082. The EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni earlier said that the Euro’s economy could avoid recession in 2023, due to promising incoming data, including the strong labour market plus signs that inflation may have peaked.

The UK

The Sterling down by 0.27% to 1.219. Pessimism grows for the UK, as the Bank of England (BoE) governor said that the reopening of China’s economy, the prolonged conflict in Ukraine and shrinking labour force in the UK will weigh on the UK’s economy and inflation outlook.

Japan

The Yen down by 0.56% to 128.580. Japan's PPI grew at a faster pace in December, increasing from 9.7% y/y in November 2022 to 10.2% y/y in December 2022. This is another piece of evidence that points to the recent and ongoing rise in inflationary pressure, which may soon require the central bank to make adjustments on its monetary policy.

China

The Yuan lost 0.56% to 6.738. The average price of a new house in one of China metro areas fell by 1.5% y/y in December 2022, following a 1.6% y/y loss in November. This which was the sharpest decline since August 2015, due to the growing debt problem among developers and China’s Zero-Covid Policy.

South Korea

The Won Strengthened 0.45% to 1,235.86.

Australia

The Aussie Dollar fell 0.19% to 0.696. Prices in Australia slowed to a four-month low of 0.2% m/m in December, according to the Melbourne Institute's Monthly Inflation Gauge, down significantly from a 1.0% m/m increase in the November.

Crude Oil

Oil prices down as Brent lost 0.96% to USD84.46 per barrel while WTI remained at USD79.86. Trading was muted for this commodity as traders are waiting for the outlook from OPEC and International Energy Agency that will be published this week.

Gold

Gold lost 0.22% to US$1,916/oz, but still trading at its highest level since the beginning of the year.

Malaysia Highlights

The ringgit strengthened 0.40% to 4.318. The anticipated inflow of 500,000 foreign workers into Malaysia this year has sparked concern among Malaysians, as it may have an impact on local career opportunities. However, Malaysia's Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar's has clarified that the employees are likely to be assigned to plantation, agricultural, and construction jobs, which the sectors that has lower take-up rate among Malaysians.

Against Other Currencies

The ringgit was stronger against the EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CNY, SGD, THB and VND, but weaker against the IDR and PHP.

Ringgit Outlook for the Day

We expect the MYR to trade between our support level of 4.290 and 4.300 while our resistance is pinned at 4.370 and 4.380.

KLSE

The KLSE down 0.10% to 1,494. Detailed transaction showed that both local retails and foreign investors were net sellers with RM61.3mil and RM60.2mil flow, respectively. Local institutions were net buyer with RM121.5mil.

Fixed Income

The benchmark yield MGS 3Y up +2.5bps to 3.550%, 5Y +3.5bps to 3.810%, 7Y +5.0bps to 4.000%, and 10Y +4.0bps to 3.975%.

Rates

The IRS yield for the 3-year up +3.0bps to 3.640%, 5-year +4.5bps to 3.705%, 7- year +4.5bps to 3.835%, and 10-year +2.5bps to 3.969%.

Source: AmInvest Research - 17 Jan 2023