KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI narrowed its losses at midday on Tuesday and was down marginally lower in line with the mixed regional markets, as investors chose to stay on the sidelines amidst the ongoing Greece crisis.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 0.86 of a point to 1,716.19. Turnover was 894.51 million shares valued at RM631.83mil. There were 266 gainers, 362 decliners and 295 counters unchanged.Reuters reported that Asian stocks won a reprieve on Tuesday after sharp falls the previous day but investors remained on edge amid uncertainty over Greece's position in the euro and volatility in mainland Chinese equity markets.
Chinese shares dropped almost 2% in early trading, reversing much of gains made on Monday following unprecedented steps to stabilise a plummeting market.
It said that Fance and Germany told Greece on Monday to come up with serious proposals in order to restart financial aid talks, a day after Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject more austerity.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the euro zone's most powerful leaders, said Athens must move quickly if it wants to secure a cash-for-reform deal with creditors and avoid crashing out of the single currency.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Research said in a note that followoing yesterday’s sharp decline, KLCI near term outlook has weakened.
"A breakdown below 1,700 will spur renewed selling spree to revisit 1,688.4 and 1,671 territory, in the wake of nagging internal and external risks," it said.
At Bursa Malaysia, AMMB Holdings
fell one sen to RM5.85, Hong Leong Bank eight sen to RM13.34, Maybank four sen to RM9.15, PBBank six sen to RM18.74 and RHBCap one sen to RM7.40 but CIMB rose six sen to RM5.51.PetChem fell five sen to RM6.35, PetDag eight sen to RM20.58, PetGas two sen to RM21.40 and SapuraKencana five sen to RM2.36.
Axiata fell one sen to RM6.36, Telekom two sen to RM6.69 but DiGi rose one sen to RM5.50 and Maxis five sen to RM6.31.
IOI Corp rose five sen to RM4.25, PPB Group 10 sen to RM15.08 but KL Kepong fell four sen to RM22.42 and Sime Darby five sen to RM8.52.
US light crude oil rose 55 cents to US$53.08
Brent rose 69 cents to US$57.23
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM5 to RM2,230
The ringgit strengthened to 3.8088 from 3.8092 the previous close
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.34% to 20,380.83
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.17% to 24,940.09
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 3.19% to 3,655.65
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.15% to 9,270.05
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0l.94% to 2,034.53
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.02% to 3,333.74
Spot gold fell US$3.05 to US$1,167.29
