KLCI bucks the trend, moves lower as Asian markets rally

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was down despite jumps in regional markets as Wall Street indexes closed at all-time-highs overnight.

Japan markets edged closer in morning trade to a 21-year high as investors moved into defensive stocks. Kobe Steel extended its losses following reports that there may have been fabricated data in its production of iron power products. 

At 12.30pm the KLCI declined 5.4 points to 1,755.73 points. Turnover was 1.59 billion shares with a value of RM905.57mil. Decliners outpaced advancers 290 to 279 with 528 counters unchanged.

Heavyweights weighed on the local index on Wednesday. Genting fell nine sen to RM9.54, Genting Malaysia fell nine sen to RM5.27 and KL Kepong dropped 22 sen to RM24.56.

Other notable decliners that shaved points off the index included Petronas Gas, which dipped eight sen to RM18.50, and MISC, which dropped four sen to RM7.16.

Telcos were also on the downtrend with Digi falling seven sen to RM4.91 and Maxis shaving off five sen to RM5.85. Axiata declined four sen to RM5.28 and Telekom Malaysia dropped seven sen to RM6.15.

Financial counters fared better with CIMB rising two sen to RM6.30, Ambank advancing two sen to RM4.45 and RHB gaining four sen to RM5.12. However, Hong Leong Bank dropped two sen to RM15.88 while Public Bank was unchanged at RM20.56 and Maybank was unchanged at RM9.54.

Among decliners on Bursa, KESM fell 16 sen to RM16.66, United Plantations declined 10 sen to RM27.34 and Genetec Technology dropped eight sen to RM1.49.

Gainers included F&N, which rose 10 sen to RM24.84; Lotte Chemicals Titan, which gained 10 sen to RM5.44; and MESB, which rose 9.5 sen to RM1.06.

Oil prices edged higher on signs that markets are gradually tightening after years of oversupply, Reuters reported. WTI Crude was up 13 cents to US$51.05 a barrel while Brent Crude was up eight cents to US$56.69 a barrel.

On the forex market, the ringgit was 0.08% stronger against the US dollar at 4.2160, 0.07% stronger against the pound sterling at 5.5630 and 0.05% stronger 3.1077.