KUALA LUMPUR: Selling pressure on Petronas linked stocks and plantations in the late afternoon on Thursday sent the FBM KLCI again into the red as sentiment took a hit from the fall in crude oil prices and tumble in China markets.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 6.01 points or 0.36% to 1,658.16, extending the losses from Wednesday. Turnover was 1.64 billion shares valued at RM1.86bil. Losers beat gainers 565 to 271 while 325 counters were unchanged.
Reuters reported Hong Kong shares fell on Thursday as investor sentiment soured after a tumble in mainland China stocks.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.6% to 18,888.75 while the China Enterprises Index lost 2.4%, to 7,871.94. China stocks tumbled more than 6%, posting their biggest one-day loss in a month, as investors booked profits after the market's recent rebound.
Meanwhile, the ringgit weakened against the US dollar and the Singapore unit but was firmer against the pound sterling.
The ringgit fell to 4.2245 against the greenback from 4.2240 while it slipped against the Singapore unit to 3.0090 from 2.9973. However, it gained against the pound to 5.8864 from 5.9038.
US light crude oil fell 42 cents to US$31.73 and Brent was down 51 cents to US$33.90 and weighed on investor sentiment.
At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Gas fell 50 sen to RM21.90 and Petronas Chemicals 19 sen lower at RM6.86 and both stocks wiped out more than four points from the KLCI. Petronas Dagangan lost 16 sen to RM24.94 and SK Petro shed one sen to RM11.89.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM11 to RM2,530 per tonne.
Plantations were mostly lower led by profit taking on KL Kepong, which lost 48 sen to RM24 in active trade while its major shareholder Batu Kawan was down 28 sen to RM17.52. SOP fell 17 sen to RM4.30, Sime Darby four sen to RM7.60 but IOI Corp added six sen to RM4.80.
AmBank fell the most among the bank stocks, down 19 sen to RM4.34 while CIMB was down two sen to RM4.25, RHB Cap three sen lower to RM5.42 while Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM13.12.
Maybank edged up one sen to RM8.64 while Public Bank advanced four sen to RM18.38.
As for telcos, Axiata climbed seven sen to RM5.98 and added 1.05 points to the KLCI while Telekom gained two sen to RM6.64.
BAT was the top gainer, up RM1.28 to RM56.88 and Dutch Lady
edged up 10 sen to RM50.12 after several days of losses.
Genting Bhd extended its losses but at a smaller scale when it fell 10 sen to RM7.76 and Genting Malaysia was flat at RM4.20.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.41% to 16,140.34;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.58% to 18,888.75;
CSI 300 tumbled 6.14% to 2,918.75;
Shanghai’s Composite Index skidded 6.41% to 2,741.25;
Shenzhen Composite plunged 7.34% to 1,738.67;
Hang Seng China Enterprise was down 2.35% to 7,871.94;
Taiwan’s Taiex added 1% to 8,365.86;
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.32% to 1,918.57 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.63% to 2,603.40.
Spot gold rose US$9.95 to US$1,238.70.
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