KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell more than five points at the midday break on Friday, in line with the weaker major Asian markets were broadly in the red due to contagion fears from Deutsche Bank AG's capital trouble.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 5.12 points to 1,664.52, off the earlier high of 1,669.85 before subsequently paring down the gains. Total turnover was 879.36 million shares valued at RM650.55mil.
The broader market was negative with decliners outnumbering gainers. There were 306 gainers to 447 losers and 362 counters unchanged.
Financial stocks across the region led the losers amid growing anxiety over Deutsche Bank's financial exposure to hundreds of banks and institutions globally, reports said. Both the Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng indices fell by more than 1% at the midday close.
Aside from Deutsche Bank's stock price hitting record lows, the bank is also grappling with legal bills tied to past misconduct including a request of US$14bil from the US Department of Justice, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, the ringgit further weakened to 4.1438 against the greenback from RM4.1233 on Thursday.
Ahead of the last day of third quarter, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has advanced 8.8% on expectations that central bank authorities around the world will maintain interest rates at record lows.
Regional markets also received a temporary boost this week after Opec pledged to cut production for the first time in eight years.
After a strong rally this week, US crude prices fell 28 cents and was last traded at US$47.55 per barrel. Brent crude fell 31 cents to US$48.93 per barrel.
At Bursa Malaysia, Sime Darby contributed 0.94 points to the KLCI's decline as the stock fell nine sen to RM7.68 at the midday close. CIMB Group
contributed a decline of another 0.86 points to the index.
Among the banks, Maybank rose one sen to RM7.63 while Public Bank was unchanged at RM19.88. AmBank fell four sen to RM4.16.
Crude palm oil’s benchmark third-month contract for December delivery fell RM5 to RM2,611 per tonne.
Among the plantation companies in the KLCI, Sime Darby fell nine sen to RM7.68 while KL Kepong rose two sen to RM24.06.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.36% to 16,466.77 ;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.27% to 23,438.07;
Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.14% to 3,002.81;
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.78% to 9,198.28 ;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.92% to 2,049.77 ;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.9% to 2,859.65.
Spot gold rose US$2.92 to US$1,323.29 per troy ounce.
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