Bears on the prowl on Bursa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed slightly higher on Monday, lifted by gains in banks, while trading volume declined to below three billion shares as churning of lower liners and penny stocks seemed to have dried out.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was up 2.94 points or 0.17% to 1,733.93. Turnover shrunk to 2.89 billion shares valued at RM1.78bil. The volume was the lowest since March 1. The broader market was slightly firmer with 456 gainers, 397 losers and 381 counters unchanged.
Key Asian market were mostly lower except Japan and South Korea.
The good news was China's economy expanded faster than expected in the first quarter as higher government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property boom helped boost industrial output by the most in over two years, Reuters reported.
Growth of 6.9% was the fastest in six quarters, with forecast-beating March investment, retail sales and exports all suggesting the economy may carry solid momentum into spring.
The ringgit rose against the US dollar and the euro but weakened against the pound sterling and the Singapore dollar.
It rose to 4.4047 against the greenback from 4.4070 and gained against the euro to 4.6784 fron 4.6813 but fell against the pound to 5.5199 from 5.5140 and slipped against the Singapore unit to 3.1550 from 3.1535.
Maybank was the biggest mover among the KLCI stocks, rising 1.21 points when it rose seven sen to RM9.02. CIMB added seven sen to RM5.45 and nudged the index up 1.05 points, RHB Bank added four sen to RM5.10, Ambank three sen to RM4.88 and Public Bank two se to RM19.92 but Hong Leong Bank lost two sen to RM13.68.
Consumer stocks were among the top gainers, with Dutch Lady
up 52 sen to RM57.18, Nestle 42 sen to RM80.76 and BAT 20 sen higher at RM47.
Crude oil fell on Monday in quiet trading after the three-day Easter break on signs the United States is continuing to add output, undermining OPEC efforts to support prices, and as the market digested North Korea's failed missile launch on Sunday, Reuters reported.
US light crude fell 49 cents to US$52.69 and Brent lost 53 cents to US$55.36. Petronas Gas lost 20 sen to RM19.28 and erased 0.67 of a point, Petronas Chemicals shed one sen to RM7.59 and Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM24.
JHM Consolidation snapped out from its recent profit taking to surge 43 sen to RM4.14.
Also traded higher was Pentamaster, up 26 sen to RM2.78 while Ann Joo added 20 sen as it would benefit from safeguards imposed to protect the local steel sector.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM2 to RM2,501 per tonne – the lowest since September 2016 – as stockpiles grew.
PPB Group rose 18 sen to RM16.78, KL Kepong 16 sen higher at RM23.98, IOI Corp gained two sen to RM4.42 and Sime Darby one sen higher at RM9.28. Batu Kawan lost 30 sen to RM19, Genting Plantations and its warrants fell 18 sen each to RM11.12 and RM3.30.
Genting Malaysia fell 13 sen to RM5.50 and erased 1.31 points from the KLCI but Genting inched up one sen to RM9.26. Tenaga was flat at RM13.70.
As for telcos, Axiata and Telekom added two sen each to RM5.08 and RM6.42 while Maxis edged up one sen to RM6.43 and Digi was flat at RM5.10.
Traders who had chased up tile maker Seacera's warrants would be sitting on losses as Seacera-WA plunged 11.5 sen to 6.5 sen. However, its shares rose three sen to RM1.01.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% to 18,355.26;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.21% to 24,261.66;
CSI 300 fell 0.17% to 3,479.82;
Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.74% to 3,222.17;
Hang Seng China Enterprise shed 0.04% to 10,204.34;
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.17% to 9,716.40;
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.51% to 2,145.76 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.98% to 3,138.30.
Spot gold rose US$4.45 to US$1,290.14.
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