KUALA LUMPUR: Most key Asian markets and the Malaysian stock market slipped into the red at midday on Wednesday in the absence of strong leads while US crude light oil fell US$50 per barrel.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 3.34 points or 0.2% to 1,674.09. Turnover was 704.72 million shares valued at RM708.71mil. The broader market was weaker with decliners beating advancers 419 to 234 while 354 counters were unchanged.
The ringgit was flat against the US dollar at 4.1575 after climbing to 4.1407 against the greenback earlier in the morning. It rose against the pound sterling to 5.0574 from 5.0877 and firmed up the euro to 4.5264 from 4.5292. It slipped against the Singaoire dollar to 2.9911 from 2.9901.
China stocks fell on Wednesday morning on lingering concerns over tighter liquidity, with a correction in resources shares offsetting strength in the healthcare and liquor sector, Reuters reporte.
The Hong Kong market - more exposed to offshore funds than mainland markets - followed Wall Street lower, weighed down also by energy shares, as oil prices extended this week's losses.
China's CSI300 index fell 0.2%, to 3,360.28 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4%, to 3,120.93, Reuters reported.
At Bursa, BAT fell the most, down RM1.04 to RM48.20 after the disappointing results. However, Nestle rose 20 sen to RM78.40 on its firm financial results.
Heavyweight Tenaga fell four sen to RM14.32 and erased 0.37 of a point from the KLCI, Genting Malaysia lost eight sen to RM4.73 but Genting Bhd
added five sen to RM7.87. IHH Healthcare shed five sen to RM6.39.
Among the banks, Maybank rose three sen to RM7.93, Hong Leong Bank gained two sen to RM13.34, Public Bank was flat at RM19.78 while CIMB lost seven sen to RM5.01.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM26 to RM2,786 per tonne.
FGV rose nine sen to RM2.25, recouping most of its previous day's losses.
KL Kepong added six sen to RM24.30 as investors were positive on its latest corporate move. KLK is making an RM1.83bil cash offer to acquire MP Evans Group Plc, a British company with huge tracts of oil palm plantation land in Indonesia.
PPB Group shed four sen to RM15.94 while IOI Corp was flat at RM4.51.
Three-A resources fell 10 sen to RM1.22. The Securities Commission (SC) had on Tuesday charged the founder and managing director (MD) alongside five other individuals with insider trading offences under Section 188 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
US light crude oil fell 66 cents to US$49.30 and Brent lost 58 cents to US$50.21. Petronas Chemicals fell two sen to RM6.97, Petronas Dagangan four sen lower at RM23.26 and Petronas Gas lost eight sen to RM21.92. SapuraKencana shed one sen to RM1.61.
Poultry company Huat Lai added five sen to RM4.90. As for Tanah Makmur, it added 10 sen to RM1.82 following the revision in the takeover offer.
Spot gold rose US$1.58 to US$1,275.45 per ounce.
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