KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended easier at midday, erasing yesterday’s strong gains with profit-taking activities seen especially those involving blue chips and index-linked counters.
Dealers said the benchmark FBM KLCI, which tracked the performance of key Asian markets, was weighed down by the overnight losses on Wall Street.
Overnight, the US market fell over 1% as financial counters tumbled as Trump rally fizzles with investors turned their focus on healthcare reform.
Similarly, European markets closed lower on Tuesday following the news that Republican members of U.S. Congress has prepared their replacement bill for Obamacare which is expected to have significant impact to tax credits and low-income group.
“Asia markets set to open lower today following Wall Steet’s decline. The local bourse is subject to profit taking and trend down below 1,750 level, tracking overnight losses in overseas markets,” JF Apex said.
PublicInvest Research said the FBM KLCI might trend lower at the opening bell today after a sharp and sudden sell-off for US financial stocks helped push the S&P 500 down more than 1% for the first time since October and provided fresh momentum to the recent rally in Treasuries — adding to pressure on the dollar.
The FBM-KLCI fell 15.08 points to 1,739.59 at 12.30pm. The local bourse opens down 6.92 points, or 0.39 pct to 1,747.75.
The broader market was weaker with decliners outpacing advancers. There were 201 gainers, 637 losers and 335 counters unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle (M) Bhd
was the top loser, falling RM2.56 to RM78.04. United Plantations eased 40 sen to RM28 and Hong Leong Financial Group closed 30 sen lower at RM15.92.
Laggards in the KLCI component stocks were led Genting Malaysia, which dragged the index down by 2.2329 points. Genting shares plunged the most in a year after falling 23 sen, or 4% to RM5.45.
Among the banks, Maybank fell 7 sen to RM8.93, Public Bank eased 12 sen to RM19.96 while CIMB Group shed 10 sen to RM5.55.
Meanwhile, ringgit erased yesterday’s gains to open lower, in early trade, on mild selling pressure against the backdrop of more dovish-than-expected monetary policy from the US Federal Reserve, a dealer said.
The ringgit was quoted at 4.4310 to a dollar at midday.
Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as rising crude stocks in the United States underscored an ongoing global fuel supply overhang despite an OPEC-led effort to cut output.
U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 4.5 million barrels in the week to March 17 to 533.6 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said late on Tuesday.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.84% to 19,098.18;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 1.39%to 24,251.14;
CSI 300 fell 0.69% to 3,442.58;
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.8% to 9,892.54;
South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.53% to 2,166.80 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 1.15% to 3,122.33.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
