KUALA LUMPUR: Stock prices on Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower on Wednesday while metal-based counters dominated Bursa Malaysia gainers’ list.
Reuters reported today that China has summoned regulators, a major exchange and steel company executives to a meeting on Wednesday to discuss steel prices as a surge in markets due to output cuts draws scrutiny from authorities.
It said the move comes after steel rebar futures prices soared by two-thirds since the start of the year, with investors betting supply will tighten as Beijing forces outdated, polluting factories to close ahead of winter. The closures are part of its war on smog and a drive to make industry more efficient.
Companies such as Press Metal
, Ann Joo, Southern Steel, Aluminium Company of Malaysia, Malaysia Steel Works (Kl) and Southern Steel are among the actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia.
Press Metal jumped 33 sen, or 11.22% to RM3.27 while Press Metal-WC rose 30 sen to RM2.85. Perstima gained 25 sen to RM6.26. An Joo surged 5.59%, or 17 sen to RM3.21, and Ann Joo-PA rose 16 sen, or 6.52% to RM1.84. Southern Steel added 13 sen to RM7.60 while Lion Industries Corp rose 11 sen to RM1.23,
The benchmark index closed at 1,777.94 down by 3.71 after trading in a range of 1,779.77 and 1,775.99. There were 317 stocks advancing against 452 stocks declining while 415 counters unchanged. About 1.42 billion shares, valued at RM1.73bil, changed hands.
Laggards in the FBM KLCI component stocks were led MISC, which dragged the index down by 1.2503 points. Genting Malaysia dragged the index down by 0.6848 points while Petronas Gas (PetGas) dragged the index down by 0.4564 points.
MISC, which reported a 58% drop in its second quarter net profit, fell 17 sen to RM7.33, Genting Malaysia dropped seven sen to RM5.92 and PetGas eased 14 sen to RM18.78.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that European shares fell back on Wednesday, with all major benchmarks in the red after a car hit a group of soldiers in a Parisian suburb in what was said to be a deliberate act.
The falls followed U.S. and Asian market declines after North Korea said it was considering plans to attack Guam, which has a large U.S. military base.
France’s CAC 40 extended losses to hit a session low, down 1.2% after the car incident in Paris. Germany’s DAX was also down 1.1% as bond yields fell.
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