A woman walks past a electronic board displaying the closing Hang Seng Index figure in Hong Kong, China, 16 November 2015. Stocks across Asia were down Monday in the first day of trading after the Paris terrorist attacks which left about 130 people dead. The Shanghai composite index opened down at 3,522.46 and closed at 3606.96, rose 0.73 percent. The Shenzhen composite index opened down at 12,180.99 and closed at 12,620.38, rose 1.76 percent. EPA/JEROME FAVRE
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia blue chips closed slightly lower on Monday unlike most European and key Asian markets which were impacted by the knee-jerk reaction after Friday's attacks in Paris, which killed more than 130 people.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 2.91 points or 0.18% to 1,656 extending the decline from last week due to foreign fund selling.
Turnover shrank to 1.91 billion shares valued at RM1.69bil. There were 347 gainers, 597 losers and 308 counters unchanged.
Reuters reported the euro hit its weakest in more than six months against the yen on Monday as investors sought safety in gold and low-risk government debt after Friday's attacks in Paris. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.43% to 4,787.10 while Germany’s DAX was down 0.35% to 10,670.54 but the FTSE 100 edged up 0.14% to 6,126.81.
Oil prices edged up after France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.
Asian shares fell to their lowest in six weeks but European shares' losses were modest as markets reopened after the attacks that killed more than 130 people, it reported.
At Bursa Malaysia, Genting Bhd
fell eight sen to RM7.25 and Genting Malaysia seven sen to RM4.22 and erased 1.2 points from the KLCI. Tenaga was flat at RM13.04 but UMW gained four sen to RM8 and YTL Corp three sen to RM1.49.
US light crude oil recovered 32 cents higher at US$41.06 and Brent added 33 cents to US$44.80. Petronas Gas added four sen to RM22.94, Petronas Dagangan two sen to RM23.44 but Petronas Chemicals fell five sen to RM6.50. SK Petro shed three sen to RM2.08.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM38 to RM2,306. PPB Group fell eiugh sen to RM15.42, KL Kepong four sen to RM22.50 and Sime Darby two sen to RM8 but IOI Corp added three sen to RM4.17.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank fekk 19 sen to RM13.74, Public Bank lost six sen to RM17.96, RHB Cap to sen to RM6.11, Maybank was flat at RM8.30 but CIMB advanced one sen to RM4.56, AmBank gained two sen to RM4.64 and HLFG four sen to RM13.44.
The ringgit weakened against the major currencies, to 4.3830 to the US dollar from 4.3780 while it eased against the pound sterling to 6,6634 from 6.6631 and it was at 3.0812 to the Singapore dollar from 3.0789.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.04% to 19,393.69;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.72% to 22,010.82;
Shanghai’s Composite Index rose 0.73% to 3,606.96;
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.41% to 8,259.40;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.53% to 1,943.02 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 0.21% to 2,919.49.
Spot gold jumped US$8.03 to US$1,091.94.
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