Foreign funds turned net sellers at -RM75.3mil while local institutions were net buyers at RM63.2mil and retail investors net buyers also at RM12.1mil, stock market data showed
Most key Asian markets closed in the red, Hong Kong stocks had their worst day in nearly three months on Thursday, with main indexes closing at month lows, bruised by a slump in energy and raw material shares, Reuters reported.
The ringgit weakened against the US dollar, pound sterling and the Euro but firmed up gainst the Singapore dollar.
The ringgit fell 0.12% to 4.4605 against the US dollar from 4.4552 the previous day and slipped against the pound to 5.4231 from 5.4183 while it weakened 0.17% against the Euro to 4.7083 from 4.7001. However, it rose 0.33% against the Singapore unit to 3.1400 from 3.1505.
Oil prices climbed on Thursday after sharp losses the session before, buoyed by strong compliance with touted international production cuts, although a surge in US crude inventories continued to drag, Reuters reported. US light crude oil rose 14 cents to US$50.40 and Brent added 14 cents to US$53.25.
Petronas Gas lost 12 sen to RM19.68, Petronas Dagangan lost 10 sen to RM24.30 while heavyweight Petronas Chemicals fell seven sen to RM7.37 and erased 0.92 point from the KLCI. Bumi Armada
lost 1.5 sen to 72 sen while SapuraKencana lost 11 sen to RM1.92.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM40 to RM2,835 per tonne. PPB Group fell the most among the plantations, down 18 sen to RM16.68, KL Kepong was down two sen to RM24.38 while IOI Corp and Sime Darby were flat at RM4.69 and RM9.10.
Among the banks, Maybank fell 10 sen to RM8.73 and wiped out 1.67 points from the KLCI, Public Bank lost 12 sen to RM19.80, AmBank six sen lower at RM4.93, RHB Bank one sen lower at RM5.18. CIMB Bank edged up one sen to RM5.38 and Hong Leong Bank rose six sen to RM13.46. HLFG lost 20 sen to RM15.56.
Among the telcos, Axiata lost seven sen to RM4.65 and wiped out 1.03 points, Digi was flat at RM5.08 while Telekom and Maxis edged up one sen each to RM6.29 and RM6.41.
F&N was the top loser, down 22 sen to RM24.28 but Carlsberg was the top gainer, up 22 sen to RM14.36 and Ajinomoto gained 12 sen to RM14.82.
RedTone jumped 12 sen to 54.5 sen in active trade. IW City surged 12 sen to RM1.76 as investors were positive about it being merged with Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Profit taking also took its toll on Kossan, which fell 14 sen to RM6.24. JHM's recent rally hit a speed bump, falling 16 sen to RM2.78. UMW fell 16 sen to RM5.79.
Kimlun fell 17 sen to RM2.19 – the worst in many months – with 4.50 million shares done on concerns about a tougher operating environment next year.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.34% to 19,318.58;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.18% to 23,501.56;
CSI 300 lost 0.63% to 3,426.94;
Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.74% to 3,216.75;
Hang Seng China Enterprise tumbled 1.79% to 10,095.79;
Taiwan’s Taiex skidded 0.97% to 9,658.61;
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.21%to 2,091.06 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.84% to 3,118.84.
Spot gold fell US$3.18 to US$1,205.13.
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