KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI reversed its losses and was up marginally at midday on Friday as plantation stocks helped lift the index despite the overall weaker broader market.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was marginally up by 0.38 of a point to 1,683.47. Turnover was 1.25 billion shares valued at RM1.25bil. There were 245 gainers, 558 decliners and 303 counters unchanged.
Reuters said that Asian shares fell and the dollar held near an 8-1/2-month peak on Friday, while the euro hovered around seven-month lows on expectations of additional stimulus from the European Central Bank next week.
Meanwhile HLIB Research said in a note that it has maintained its expected trading range of between 1,692-1,669 for Friday as investors are cautious over negative market breadth with losers outpacing gainers for the last three trading days.
"In tandem with negative market sentiment, lower liners stocks are expected to stage a technical retracement," it noted.
At Bursa Malaysia, IOI Corp rose 22 sen to RM4.38 and KL Kepong 14 sen to RM22.80.
TopGlove rose 16 sen to RM9.66 and Supermax 18 sen to RM2.47.
HapSeng was up 17 sen to RM6.31 and TimeCom 24 sen to RM6.95.
PChem fell 17 sen to RM6.67 and MNRB 29 sen to RM3.17.
UMW fell 20 sen to RM8.08.
US light crude oil fell 50 cents to US$42.54
Brent fell seven cents to US$45.39
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM24 to RM2,365
The ringgit weakened against the dollar at 4.2338 from 4.2218 the previous close
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 19,864.63
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.19% to 22,221.3
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 1.52% to 3,580.18
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.85% to 8,413.14
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.09% to 2,028.81
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.02% to 2,855.34
Spot gold fell US$4.67 to US$1,067.65
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