KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed lower at midday on Wednesday, dragged down by profit taking in Hong Leong Bank, KL Kepong and Genting, but the broader market was firmer with heavy trading seen in penny stocks.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 4.45 points or 0.25% to 1,742.74. Turnover rose to 2.03 billion shares valued at RM1.38bil. There were 480 gainers, 355 losers and 370 counters unchanged.
Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by a bounce in Chinese shares, though the underlying sentiment was still cautious with investors wary of taking big positions before Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping start their summit on Thursday, Reuters reported.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 4.4305 from 4.4312 the previous day, but its weakened against the pound sterling to 5.5161 from 5.107 and slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.1692 from 3.1669. It weakened against the Euro to 4.7290 from 4.7239.
Prospects for Malaysia's economy brightened as February exports picked up stronger than expected.
Malaysia's exports in February jumped 26.5% to RM71.77bil – the fourth consecutive month where the exports exceeded RM70bil – exceeding Bloomberg's survey of 15.1% growth – as demand from China grew at a faster pace.
Maybulk jumped 7.5 sen to 93.5 sen in active trade as it benefits from the increase in trade.
Oil prices climbed on Wednesday on signs of gradual tightening in a market bloated by years of overproduction that has left storage tanks around the world brimming with unsold fuel, Reuters reported.
US light crude oil rose 28 cents to US$51.31 and Brent added 26 cents to US$54.43. Petronas Gas fell 10 sen to RM19.70 and Petronas Chemicals five sen lower at RM7.70 but Petronas Dagangan rose six sen to RM24.08.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank lost 28 sen to RM13.72 and erased nearly one point from the KLCI. AmBank was seven sen lower at RM4.80, Maybank fell five sen to RM8.95, Public Bank four sen lower at RM19.92 and RHB Bank two sen to RM5.12.
Among the consumer stocks, Dutch Lady
fell 74 sen to RM56.70 and BAT 10 sen lower at RM46.02.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rallied RM53 to RM,2684 per tonne. KL Kepong fell 22 sen to RM24.70 and Batu Kawan 12 sen lower at RM19.38, PPB Group two sen to RM16.68 while Sime Darby was flat at RM9.31.
Genting Bhd lost seven sen to RN9.53 and Genting Malaysia five sen lower at RM5.47 while Tenaga was flat at RM13.74.
GHL Systems extended its gains from Tuesday when it hit limit-up. It added 17 sen to RM1.65.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.09% to 18,794.09;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.19% to 24,215.97;
CSI 300 rose 1.12% to 3,494.85;
Shanghai’s Composite Index gained 1.06% to 3,256.67;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.26% to 10,287.92;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.96% to 9,905.64;
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.36% to 2,153.31 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.48% to 3,163.76.
Spot gold fell US$1.01 to US$1,255.27.
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