Sime Darby, Maybank in focus as KLCI closes down 5 pts

KUALA LUMPUR: Fund buying of Maybank was insufficient to halt the slide in the FBM KLCI on Thursday as Sime Darby, AmBank and Petronas Dagangan lost ground on continued selling pressure while the ringgit hit fresh 1998 lows.

The ringgit weakened to an intra-day low of 4.1405 to the US dollar before ending the day at 4.1277. The previous day’s close was 4.1058.

At 5pm, the KLCI was down 5.03 points or 0.32% to 1,577.41. Turnover was 1.78 billion shares valued at RM1.76bil. Decliners beat advancers 448 to 360 while 305 counters were unchanged.

The KLCI opened in the red and continued to stay under water throughout the day following the weak Wall Street and key Asian markets.

Reuters reported stocks, oil and emerging market currencies fell on Thursday as fading expectations for an imminent US interest rate hike following Federal Reserve meeting minutes stoked anxiety about the health of the global economy.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services says the depreciation in the Malaysian ringgit won't significantly affect rated Malaysian companies.

Standard & Poor's credit analyst Xavier Jean said on Thursday the weakening ringgit by itself “will have only a limited impact on the cash flow adequacy and operating performance of the eight companies that we rate in Malaysia".

Sime Darby was the top loser, down 25 sen to RM7.68 and erased 2.68 points from the KLCI as the weakening crude palm oil prices impacted its earnings. It is due to announce its results next week.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell below the crucial RM2,000 level. It was trading lower by RM42 to RM1,993 per tonne.

AmBank fell 14 sen to RM4.80 and erased 0.73 of a point. AMMB expects the current financial year ending March 31, 2016 to be challenging due to the poor market sentiment, partly weighed down by political risks.

RHB Capital lost 11 sen to RM6.42, Public Bank six sen to RM17.88, CIMB and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM5 and RM12.78. However, Maybank rose 14 sen to RM8.60 and pushed the KLCI up 2.31 points.

US crude oil fell 58 cents to US$40.22 and Brent 83 cents lower at RM46.33.

Among the oil and gas stocks, Petronas Dagangan lost 22 sen to RM19.82, Petronas Gas 10 sen lower at RM20.90 and Petronas Chemicals four sen to RM5.70. SK Petro fell two sen to RM1.69.

Power giant Tenaga Nasional lost four sen to RM10.40, UMW 19 sen lower at RM8.61 while Genting Malaysia ended five sen down to RM3.94.

Among the key regional markets,

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.94% to 20,033.52;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.77% to 22,757.47;

CSI 300 fell 3.21% to 3,761.45;

Shanghai’s Composite Index tumbled 3.42% to 3,664.29;

Shenzen Composite skidded 3% to 2,155.49;

Hang Seng China Enterprise lost2.25% to 10,402.72;

Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.1% to 8,029.81;

South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.28% to 1,914.55; and

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.03% to 3,009.78.

Spot gold jumped US$.87 to US$1,138.75.