KUALA LUMPUR: Profit taking of Petronas related stocks and Genting Bhd
pushed the FBM KLCI deeper into the red with losses of nearly 10 points at midday on Thursday amid a mixed broader market while the ringgit lost ground against the US dollar.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 9.89 points or 0.54% to 1,833.04. Turnover was 721.29 million shares valued at RM694.72mil. There were 315 gainers, 328 losers and 300 counters.
The decline was the fourth day of losses for the KLCI in line with the weak key Asian markets after the overnight fall on Wall Street.
Bloomberg reported Chinese stocks trading in Hong Kong fell for a third day, with raw-material companies sliding before Friday's manufacturing data and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. slumping after reporting weak profit growth.
US crude oil rose 14 cents to US$58.72 but Brent fell 30 cents to US$65.54.
At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Dagangan lost 38 sen to RM21.48 but Petronas Chemical’s 28 sen decline to RM5.80 wiped out 3.85 points from the KLCI. Petronas Gas was flat at RM22.96.
SapuraKencana Petroleum rose six sen to RM2.72.
UMW fell 22 sen to RM10.62 and LNG shipper MISC lost 21 sen to RM9.16.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM12 to RM2,094. KL Kepong fell 24 sen to RM22.54 and PPB Group 14 sen to RM15.60, FGV and IOI Corp two sen each to RM2.06 and RM4.38.
Among the consumer stocks, BATfell 44 sen to RM66.56, Nestle 34 sen to RM74.04 while Carlsberg was down 22 sen to RM13.20.
Among the banks, Maybank added three sen to RM9.33, Public Bank two sen to RM19.72, but CIMB fell two sen to RM6.02 and Hong Leong Bank was down eight sen to RM14.08.
MyEG jumped 25 sen to RM2.54 after the positive turn of events in the company’s online foreign workers working permit renewal services (FWPR).
MPI rose 15 sen to RM6.70 after posting a strong set of earnings.
Perwaja added 4.5 sen to 17 sen and Kinsteel 1.5 sen to 15 sen in active trade.
The ringgit weakened against the US dollar to 3.5633 from the previous close of 3.5587.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.88% to 19,681.99;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.93% to 28,136.29;
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 0.1% to 4,472.36;
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.07% to 9,847.22;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.83% to 2,124.92;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.48% to 3,470.52.
Spot gold fell US$2.92 to US$1,201.79.
