For the month, the FBM KLCI is down 3.18% and year-to-date, it is down 8.02%.
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets and Bursa Malaysia fell at midday on Tuesday on rising geopolitical worries while the weaker-than-expected industrial output data also weighed on investors sentiment.
Trading volume had jumped to nearly one billion in the first hour of trade, driven by penny stocks and lower liners like Priceworth, MUI Industries, DneX, Vivocom and Maroc. However towadrs midday, the churning had slowed down somewhat but trading was still heavy.
At midday, the KLCI was down 5.15 points or 0.38% to 1,734.37. Turnover was 2.28 billion shares valued at RM981.21mil. The broader market was cautious as losers beat gainers 486 to 323 and 368 counters were unchanged.
The ringgit rose against the US and Singapore currencies. It rose to 4.4350 against the US dollar from 4.4360 the previous day, it edged up against the Singapore unit at 3.1551 from 3.1553. It slipped against the pound sterling at 5.5091 from 5.5028 and was flat versus the Euro at 4.6964.
Reuters reported stocks in Hong Kong and China fell on Tuesday morning as investors' appetite for risky assets soured on concerns over political tensions in North Korea and the Middle East.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.9% at the end of the morning session, at 24,054.39, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.1%, to 10,136.96.
At Bursa Malaysia, the weakening crude palm oil (CPO) weighed on plantations. CPO for third months was unchanged at a six-month low of RM2,593 per tonne, weighed by higher output and lower demand.
IOI Corp lost nine sen to RM4.50 and erased 0.95 of a point, PPB Group fell 10 sen to RM16.54, Sime Darby was down six sen to RM9.28 and wiped out 0.67 of a point and KL Kepong fell two sen to RM24.44.
Among the consumer stocks, Ajinomoto fell 38 sen to RM17.62 and Nestle lost 18 sen to RM79.82 while BAT shed 10 sen to RM46.10.
Among the financial stocks and banks, HLFG fell 24 sen to RM16.16, Hong Leong Bank eight sen to RM13.58, AmBank four sen to RM4.86, RHB Bank three sen to RM5.21 and Public Bank two sen lower at RM19.96 while CIMB one sen lower at RM5.46, Maybank was flat at RM8.99.
As for telcos, Axiata fell five sen to RM5.05, Digi two sen to RM5.08, Maxis rose two sen to RM6.36 and Telekom one sen higher at RM6.34.
DneX was among the active stocks, up 1.5 sen to 47.5 sen with 51.11 million shares done. Its warrants, DneX-WD added 1.5 sen to 30 sen with 98.84 million units traded.
MUI Industries was actively traded with 102.62 million shares done, up 3.5 sen to 22.5 sen.
Priceworth was the most active with 122.19 million shares done, climbing 4.5 sen to 24.5 sen.
REV was the top gainer, up 17 sen to RM1.09 while HCK added 15 sen to RM5.19, Perstima 10 sen higher at RM7.70 and Padini nine sen up at RM3.03.
Spot gold price rose US$1.74 to US$1,256.42.
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