KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips gave up their early gains on Monday, with Genting Bhd
and Public Bank weighing on the FBM while crude palm oil (CPO) for third month futures fell to the mid-August low.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 3.19 points or 0.19% to 1,718.47. Turnover was 1.04 billion shares valued at RM819.05mil. There were 182 gainers, 414 losers and 533 counters unchanged.
The riggit rose 0.12% against the US dollar to 4.1560, gained 0.5% to the euro at 5.4859, advanced 0.64% to the euro at 4.8764 while it increased by 0.15% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0624.
China stocks skidded on Monday after Beijing set sweeping new guidelines to regulate asset management products, which analysts said will dampen investors' appetite for riskier assets, Reuters reported.
The central bank issued the new guidelines on Friday to more strictly regulate asset management businesses, in the government's latest effort to rein in the risky shadow banking sector which had been channelling money into Chinese stocks, bonds and property.
Shanghai's benchmark index SSEC tumbled as much as 1.4% to a two-month low, before recouping some losses to end the morning down 0.8% at 3,355.58.
At Bursa, among the heavyweights, Genting fell the most, down 14 sen to RM9.06 and erased 0.88 of a point Tenaga was flat at RM14.84 while Genting Malaysia gained two sen to RM4.96.
As for banks, Hong Leong Bank and RHB Bank lost 10 sen each to RM15.68 and RM4.72, Public Bank and AmBank fell six sen each to RM20.32 and RM4.25 and Maybank shed one sen to RM9.21 which CIMB was flat at RM6.
CPO for third month delivery fell RM52 to RM2,662, the lowest since Aug 17 as India raised import tax on palm oil and other edible oils.
KL Kepong fell 12 sen to RM24.30, PPB Group four sen lower at RM16.56, IOI Corp lost two sen to RM4.42. Sime Darby fell one sen to RM8.96.
Among the consumer stocks, Dutch Lady fell 28 sen to RM60, Heineken 26 sen lower at RM17.96 but Nestle added 64 sen to RM90.54.
US light crude oil rose six cents to US$56.61 and Brent fell 16 cents to US$62.56. Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM7.29, Petronas Gas and Petronas Dagangan lost 14 sen each to RM16.50 and RM23.28.
As for glove makers, Kossan lost 17 sen to RM8.02.
Vitrox fell the most among the tech related stocks, down 17 sen to RM5.37. However, MPI rose 44 sen to RM13.54, and PMB Tech nine sen higher at RM4.29.
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