KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KCLI fell further as regional markets continued to rise on strong global earnings forecasts and Wall Street's record close above 23,000 points.
China's widely predicted third quarter economic growth of 6.8% did little to dampen investor sentiment although the market cooled slightly over the central bank's commitment to financial reform.
Japan's Nikkei hit a fresh 21-year high in mid-morning trade and is headed for a 13th straight day of gains. At midday, it rose 0.3% to 21,430.66 points.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI dipped 3.72 points to 1745.27 points. Turnover was 1.66 billion shares with a value of RM1.02bil. Decliners beat advancers 353 to 259 with 518 counters unchanged.
Petronas Gas weighed on the local index on Thursday morning, dropping 32 sen to RM18.18. Other Petronas-related counters, Petronas Dagangan slipped 20 sen to RM24.18 while Petronas Chemicals gained five sen to RM7.38.
In telcos, Digi dipped 10 sen to RM4.79 as it posted lower year-on-year core net profit for its cumulative nine months in 2017. Maxis lost two sen to RM5.74 and Telekom Malaysia dropped five sen to RM6.10 while Axiata remained unchanged at RM5.18.
Banking counters were mixed at midday, with Maybank losing one sen to RM9.41, RHB slipping five sen to RM5.05 and Ambank dropping four sen to RM4.46. Hong Leong added two sen to RM16.02 and CIMB put on four sen to RM6.19, having lost some ground earlier in the week on news of Khazanah's stake sale.
Plantations player KL Kepong was among the top gainers on Bursa, putting on 18 sen to RM24.28 while IOI dipped three sen to RM4.51 and Sime Darby slipped one sen to RM9.06.
On the broader market, Genting Plantations was among the laggards, dropping 12 sen to RM10.48. Petron Malaysia
moved lower, slipping 12 sen to RM11.16. Meanwhile, Magni-Tech Industries fell 16 sen to RM6.91.
Rubber glove makers continued to rise on positive sentiment. Top Glove remained attractive to investors, adding eight sen to RM6.41, while Hartalega rose one sen to RM7.69, Kossan gained three sen to RM7.15 and Supermax added six sen to RM1.89.
Oil prices were stable amid US production cuts and tensions in the middle east. US light crude was three cents lower to US$52.01 a barrel while Brent Crude slipped two cents to US$58.13 a barrel.
On the forex, the ringgit was 0.05% weaker against the greenback at 4.2265 and 0.07% weaker against the Singapore dollar at 3.1102. It strengthened 0.48% against the pound sterling at 5.5862.
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