For the month, the FBM KLCI is down 3.18% and year-to-date, it is down 8.02%.
KUALA LUMPUR: Late selling of key stocks including BAT pushed the FBM KLCI into the red on Friday as investors stayed on the sidelines after fresh data showed Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) foreign reserves declined on Jan 13.
Another reason for investors to stay cautious was Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th president of the United States as key Asian markets turned out a mixed performance. Japan, China and Singapore made some gains but Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea closed lower.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 1.62 points or 0.1% to 1,664.89 on late selling towards the close. Turnover was 1.58 billion shares valued at RM1.59bil. Decliners beat advancers 428 to 300 while 404 counters were unchanged.
The ringgit firmed up against the key currencies, adding 0.04% against the US dollar to 4.4470 from 4.4490. It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1185 from 3.1198 and edged up against the Euro at 4.7361 from 4.7429. However, it slipped against the pound sterling to 5.4909 from 5.4828.
BNM's international reserves dipped US$300mil to US$94.3bil as at Jan 13, 2017 from US$94.6bil on Dec 30, 2016. In ringgit terms, the reserves declined RM1.3bil from RM424.2bil to RM422.9bil during the same period.
Reuters reported early optimism among business lobbyists and executives that Trump's election heralded better days has slowly given way to uncertainty as the president-elect fires off mixed and sometimes confusing messages on healthcare, taxes and trade.
Hap Seng Consolidated closed down 15 sen to RM8.80 and erased 0.63 of a point from the KLCI. MISC fell seven sen to RM7.30, Genting Malaysia was down four sen to RM4.79 while Genting Bhd
was flat at RM8.35.
HLFG fell 20 sen to RM14.70, Hong Leong Bank 16 sen lower at RM13.16, RHB Bank shed four sen to RM4.88, AmBank two sen lower at RM4.43 while Public Bank was unchanged at RM20.10. CIMB and Maybank inched up two sen each to RM4.84 and RM8.27.
UMW Holdings was the star of the day, jumping 46 sen to RM5.08 as investors chased the stock following its corporate exercise to exit the oil and gas business. It will also distribute all its shares in UMW Oil & Gas.
However, UMW Oil and Gas fell 15.5 sen to 73 sen with 97 million shares done while its call warrants C12 plunged 11.5 sen to 3.5 sen with 1.75 millon units traded. Icon Offshore rose three sen to 46.5 sen.
As for consumer stocks, BAT fell the most on Bursa Malaysia, skidding 68 sen to RM44.10 while Ajinomoto lost 10 sen to RM14.06. However, Nestle added 22 sen to RM75.02.
Crude palm oil (CPO) for third-month delivery fell RM29 to RM3,102 per tonne. Sime Darby shed two sen to RM8.52, PPB Groupwas flat at RM16.10. IOI Corp added one sen to RM4.50 and KL Kepong inched up two sen to RM24.24. Matang was unchanged at 13.5 sen.
Crude oil prices climbed with US light up 34 cents to US$51.71 and Brent added 42 sen top US$54.58. However, there was not much enthusiasm for Petronas linked stocks where Petronas Dagangan and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged at RM23.40 and RM7.19 while Petronas Gas shed two sen to RM20.14.
As for telcos, Telekom added three sen to RM6.03, Axiata tose two sen to RM4.66, Digi gained one sen to RM4.92 while Maxis shed one sen to RM5.99.
Spot gold fell US$2.63 to US$1,202.22 per troy ounce.
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