Maybank, CIMB weigh as KLCI sees nearly 28pts erased (Update)

KUALA LUMPUR: The selling of key stocks including banks, plantations and oil and gas (O&G) stocks resumed on Wednesday after a one-day reprieve for investors, sending the FBM KLCI down nearly 28 points.

The 30-stock KLCI was the worst performer among the key regional markets, falling 27.82 points or 1.56% to 1,758.15. Turnover declined to 1.56 billion shares valued at RM1.97bil. Declining stocks beat advancers 678 to 197 while 250 counters were unchanged.

With the KLCI slipping below Monday’s low to create a new 14-month low, the equities market is officially in the bearish zone, a technical chartist said. On Monday,t he KLCI fell 42 points.

Tuesday’s mild rebound was a bear trap, he said, adding that investors should stay on sidelines. The decline in trading volume compared with Monday’s selldown has eased slightly but the fragile sentiment is still in place.

The ringgit touched a near five-year low of 3.4462 as a rebound in oil failed to ease concerns over the impact of lower crude prices on the country, a net oil exporter and major palm oil producer. At 5pm, it was at 3.4435 versus 3.4260 the previous day.

Alliance DBS Research downgraded 2015 GDP growth to 5% on expectations of softening consumption and export growth. The worst-case scenario 2015 GDP projection at 3%-4%

“Anticipate twin deficit by 1Q15; crude oil prices expected to stay low and Ringgit to remain weak in short-term,” it said in a report.

Maybank fell 26 sen to RM8.95 and erased 4.25 points from the KLCI while CIMB was down 23 sen to RM5.57 and RHB Cap 25 sen lower at RM7.85 and Public Bank 12 sen to RM18.20. HLFG was the top losers, sliding 84 sen to RM15.96.

US light crude oil and Brent managed to eke out some gains, US crude added 85 cents tto US$67.73 and Brent 61 cents higher at US$71.15.

Among the Petronas stocks, Petronas Chemicals and Petronas Gas lost 20 sen each to RM5.30 and RM20.90 but Petronas Dagangan added 16 sen to RM14.94.  SKPetor lost 12 sen to RM2.44.

Perisai fell six sen to 50.5 sen with 45.53 million shares done, Sumatec lost 0.5 sen to 23 sen and Dialog two sen to RM1.31.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM23 to RM2,165 per tonne. But the recovery in CPO prices was insufficient to shore up the weakening interest in plantation stocks amid the weak sentiment.

Among the plantations, PPB Group fell 44 sen to RM14.56 and KL Kepong was down 32 sen RM22, FGV seven sen to RM3.01 and IOI Corp two sen to RM4.81.

 

Among the key regional markets, Hong Kong shares reversed earlier gains and finished down on Wednesday as money flowed into the bullish mainland markets, analysts said.

Reuters reported share prices in Hong Kong have lagged those in China since the launch of the cross border trading scheme between the two cities and as investors await further price consolidation, according to Reuters.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.95% to 23,428.62;

Shanghai’s Composite Index rose 0.58% to 2,779.53;

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% to 17,720.43;

Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.55% to 9,175.26;

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.21% to 1,969.91;

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.57% to 3,303.39.

Spot gold rose US$8.01 to US$1,206.29.