KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued to under perform the key Asian markets on Friday on late fund selling of Axiata and MISC but the ringgit rallied the second day on expectations of an interest rate hike next year.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 4.53 points or 0.26% to 1,742,28 and year-to-date, it is up 6.12%.
Turnover was 3.11 billion shares valued at RM2.13bil. The broader market weaken with 443 losers to 334 gainers and 473 counters unchanged.
World stocks edged lower on Friday on signs that U.S. tax reforms could be delayed after Senate Republicans unveiled a plan that differed significantly from the House of Representatives' version, Reuters reported.
MSCI's global stock index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, declined 0.1%.
Hong Kong stocks were roughly flat on Friday, but had a bullish week that saw the benchmark index Hang Seng hit decade-highs, as money inflows from the mainland accelerated, Reuters reported.
The ringgit extended its gains for the second day, climbing 0.36% against the US dollar to 4.1915; up 0.34% versus the pound sterling to 5.5112, advanced 0.47% versus the Singapore dollar at 3.0809.
Against the euro, it was up 0.22% to 4.8771 while it gained 0.43% against the yen.
Oil markets were slightly down but stable on Friday, supported by ongoing supply cuts and strong demand which have resulted in a tightening market, although the prospect of rising U.S. output capped prices. US light crude oil fell four cents to US$57.13 while Brent crude rose seven cents to US$64.
Petronas Chemical's strong Q3 results saw it climbing four sen to RM7.44 and adding 0.54 of a point to the KLCI. Petronas Dagangan climbed 16 sen to RM21.60 while Petronas Gas' stellar earnings saw its share price rising 10 sen to RM17.80.
Axiata fell 10 sen to RM5.34 and wiped out 1.53 points from the KLCI, Digi lost three sen to RM4.84, Maxis shed one sen to RMRM5.99 and Telekom edged up one sen to RM6.16.
MISC fell 15 sen to RM7.30 and erased 1.14 points, Genting Malaysia 10 sen lower at RM5.05 while Genting Bhd
lost seven sen to RM9.41 while Tenaga was flat at RM14.90.
Westports lost seven sen to RM3.67 after it announced lower third quarter earnings due to the lower container throughput and higher fuel costs and it expects a decline due to changes in the container shipping industry.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM21 to RM2,788 per tonne.
As for plantations, IOI Corp added three sen to RM4.50, PPB Group gained two sen to RM16.72, Sime Darby edged up one sen to RM9.07 but KL Kepong fell eight sen to RM24.70. Kim Loong was the top loser, down 24 sen to RM4.61.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank rose four sen to RM16, Maybank added two sen to RM9.18, Public Bank was flat at RM20.46, RHB Bank shed one sen to RM4.89, CIMB three sen down at RM6.18 and AmBank five sen lower at RM4.33.
Hartalega rose 40 sen to RM8.70 on news it has produced its “antimicrobial” nitrile examination gloves which can kill germs within five minutes of contact. These gloves will be launched early 2018.
As for tech related stocks, burn-in tester KESM rose 56 sen to RM19.20 and Vitrox 39 sen to RM5.63.
Hong Leong Industries rose 28 sen to RM10.08 after its strong earnings.
MUI rose two sen to 26.5 sen with 105.96 million shares on news reports about a Malaysian buyers keen on buying Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng's stake in the asset-rich company.
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