KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets and blue chips on Bursa Malaysia fell on Friday morning as investors stayed cautious ahead of the June 23 referendum that could see Britain exit the European Union while crude oil prices were off their highs.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 5.13 points or 0.31% to 1,645.38. Turnover was 1.02 billion shares valued at RM619.03mil. There were 227 gainers, 373 losers and 333 counters unchanged.
The ringgit weakened against the major currencies, further aggravated by the weaker-than-expected industrial production index which rose 3% on-year, below a forecast of a 3.5% increase.
The ringgit was at 4.0747 to the greenback from the previous close of 4.0450; it slipped against the pound sterling to 5.8863 from 5.8529. It crossed the key 3.0 level against the Singapore dollar to 3.0073 from 2.9931. It weakened to 4.6050 to the Euro from 4.5972.
Reuters reported Asian shares pulled back on Friday as investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets amid festering concerns over the June 23 referendum that could see Britain exit the European Union and also ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting next week.
At Bursa Malaysia, Axiata and Digi erased nearly three points from the KLCI. Axiata lost 11 sen to RM5.60 and Digi 10 sen to RM4.60, Maxis lost two sen to RM5.76 while Telekom was flat at RM6.68.
US light crude oil fell 19 cents to US$50.37 a barrel and Brent down 15 cents to US$51.80. Petronas Gas lost 12 sen to RM21.64 and Petronas Chemicals 11 sen to RM6.55 while Petronas Dagangan was down eight sen to RM23.60. SK Petro lost seven sen to RM1.65 while Bumi Armada
shed 0.5 sen to 75 sen.
MISC call warrants C& fell the most, down 25.5 sen to 24.5 sen while Petronas Chemicals call warrants C8 tumbled 18 sen to 21 sen.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM11 to RM2,598 a tonne. PPB Group rose 14 sen to RM16.10, TAHPS 12 sen to RM6.35 and KL Kepong four sen to RM23.30 but IOI Corp shed one sen to RM4.35 and Sime Darby unchanged at RM7.51.
Power giant Tenaga rose 10 sen to RM14 and pushed the KLCI up nearly one point. MAHB rose 14 sen to RM6.54 but Genting Bhd fell seven sen to RM8.38 and MISC two sen to RM7.60.
As for banks, Hong Leong Bank gained eight sen to RM13.20, Public Bank aded six sen to RM19.10, AmBank was flat at RM4.39, CIMB lost four sen to RM4.49 while Maybank shed one sen to RM8.24.
Borneo Oil rose on StarBiz news that the company’s diversification into gold mining activities in Pahang has paid off, with its gold inventory currently worth some RM100mil. The shares rose one sen to 15.5 sen
As at March 31, 2016, the group held 18,863 ounces in gold inventory valued at US$24mil or RM94mil (based on an ounce of US$1,280 and exchange rate of US$1 to RM3.9 then).
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225fell 0.78% to 16,538.04;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.68% to 21,152.99;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 1.53% to 8,890.12;
South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.33% to 2,017.41 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.67% to 2,824.64.
Spot gold fell US$2.88 to US$1,266.92.
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