KLCI moves lower as Asian markets weighed on commodity concerns

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI dipped in morning trade, in line with regional markets that took a step back after a fall in oil and commodity prices.

Oil prices retraced earlier gains as analysts warned of an impending correction after prices gained more than 13% over the last month, said Reuters. 

WTI crude dropped eight cents to US$63.65 a barrel while brent crude dropped 12 cents to US$69.03.

At 12.30pm, the local benchmark index slid 2.22 points to 1,832.81 points. It saw 2.84 billion shares exchanging hands with a value of RM982.86mil. There were 420 decliners versus 203 advancers with 582 counters unchanged.

Decliners among KLCI-component counters were led by Petronas Gas was down 16 sen to RM18.20, Genting Malaysia down five sen to RM5.44 and Tenaga Nasional, down four sen to RM15.84.

Among the advancers, Genting was up eight sen to RM9.56, RHB added four sen to RM5.22 and MISC gained five sen to to RM7.45.

On the wider market, Sumatec remained actively traded, pulling back from gains seen over the previous two sessions, falling 2.5 sen to 9.5 sen.

Other oil and gas counters also continued to be in the spotlight, with Perisai Petroleum dropping two sen to to seven sen, UMW Oil & Gast slipping one sen to 39.5 sen and Sapura Energy declining three sen to to 81.5 sen.

Among active gainers, glove manufacturers were on the move once more. Hartalega rose 26 sen to RM11 and Top Glove gained 18 sen to RM8.94.

Oil refiner Hengyuan also gained 14 sen to RM14.48 while Petron Malaysia added 16 sen to RM12.44.

In currencies, the ringgit rose 0.13% against the greenback to 3.9525. It rose 0.11% against the pound sterling at 5.4460 and 0.14% against the Singapore dollar at 2.9869.