KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia and the ringgit went on divergent paths at midday on Monday as the FBM KLCI was dragged down by Hong Leong Bank and Petronas Gas while the local unit surged to the highest since late March 2019.
At midday, the KLCI was down 3.04 points or 0.19% to 1,588.42. Turnover was 1.54 billion shares valued at RM681.76mil. There were 375 gainers, 334 losers and 380 counters unchanged.
On the external front, China and Hong Kong stocks rose, ahead of this week's signing of a US-China trade deal that has buoyed sentiment, Reuters reported. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.06% and Hang Seng Index gained 0.8%.
The imminent signing helped Asian currencies rally on Monday, but sterling fell on fresh hints of a Bank of England rate cut.
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