KUALA LUMPUR: Late buying pushed the FBM KLCI off its lows on Thursday as Genting Malaysia, Sime Darby and Maybank lead blue chips while BAT continued to come under pressure on possible cigarette price hikes.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed down 1.16 points or 0.07% to 1,749.25. Turnover was 3.22 billion shares valued at RM2.56bil. The broader market improved with 465 gainers to 420 losers and 377 counters unchanged.
The ringgit climbed against the key currencies, especially against the pound sterling.
Citi Group Research said it finds the Ringgit cheap on a variety of metrics, and even though some concerns about operational issues remain, “we believe that some outperformance is possible amidst a risk-supportive backdrop”. It was positive on the ringgit-denominated bonds.
The ringgit jumped 0.29% against the pound to 5.4844 from 5.5004 and advanced 0.53% against the Euro to 4.7427 from 4.7681. It eked out a gain of 0.05% against the US$ to 4.4175 from 4.4198 and inched up 0.01% against the Singapore dollar to 3,1677 from 3.1681.
Asian equity investors continued to look to the US for guidance as most markets in the region fell ahead of data that could give clues to the sustainability of gradual rates increase in the world’s biggest economy. Chinese shares fell for a fourth day amid tightening money supply before the quarter-end, Bloomberg reported.
BAT swung back into the red, down 44 sen to RM45 as an initial recovery from Wednesday's tumble petered out. It rose to a high of RM46.60 earlier Thursday.
Arguing that any increase could provide more fuel to the booming illegal market, the Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers (CMTM) said any further price increases would not impact smoking rates as smokers would turn to the very cheap and readily available illegal cigarette segment which is already spiraling out of control.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM55 to RM2,666 per tonne, the lowest since Oct 14, 2016 – on concerns about a weaker demand for palm oil while the ringgit strengthened.
Batu Kawan, the major shareholder of KL Kepong, fell 16 sen to RM19.50 while TAHPS shed 10 sen to RM6.75. Heavyweight Sime Darby fell 10 sen to RM9.30 and erased 1.15 points from the KLCI.
PPB Group rose 48 sen to RM17.18 and added 0.96 of a point to the KLCI, UMCCA 23 sen higher at RM6.50, IOI Corp gained two sen to RM4.67 while KL Kepong was flat at RM24.78.
Genting Malaysia fell 15 sen to RM5.55 and erased 1.51 points from the KLCI while Genting Bhd
was up one sen to RM9.68. Tenaga was flat at RM13.74 and MISC shed three sen to RM7.31.
Banks were mixed as Maybank fell five sen to RM8.91 and erased 0.86 of a point, AmBank lost six sen to RM4.79 while Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM19.94 and RM13.68 while RHB Bank gained two sen to RM5.27 and CIMB three sen to RM5.61.
Insurer Allianz lost 28 sen to RM11.60 and Aeon Credit fell 14 sen to RM15.80.
Among the consumer stocks, Dutch Lady added 42 sen to RM57.42 and Nestle 38 sen to RM79.
Telcos saw rising investor interest, with Maxis up three sen to RM6.47, Axiata and Telekom two sen to RM5.15 and RM6.43 and Digi one sen to RM5.17.
Oil prices slipped on Thursday after two days of increases as bloated U.S. inventories limited the impact of supply disruptions in Libya and lower output from other OPEC exporters, Reuters reported. US light crude was down 11 sen to US$49.40 and Brent fell 26 sen to US$52.16.
Petronas Dagangan rose four sen to RM23.94 while Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM7.65 but Petronas Gas fell four sen to RM19.76.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% to 19,063.22;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.37% to 24,301.09;
CSI 300 gave up 0.82% to 3,436.76;
Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.096% to 3,210.24;
Hang Seng China Enterprise ended lower by 0.78% to 10,355.71;
Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.08% to 9,848.15;
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.11% to 2,164.64 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index ended the day down 0.36% to 3,173.24.
Spot gold fell US$3.47 to US$1,249.98.
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