Bears on the prowl on Bursa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets stayed in the red at midday on Thursday, with the FBM KLCI down nearly 10 points, on worries about the political issues in the US, while the ringgit retreated against the major currencies.
At midday, the KLCI was down 9.64 points or 0.54% to 1,766.01. Turnover was 1.82 billion shares valued at RM1.24bil. Decliners beat advancers nearly three to one or 629 losers to 218 gainers and 365 counters unchanged.
Reuters reported most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, tracking weakness in global markets as concerns rose over US President Donald Trump's future following reports that he tried to influence a federal probe.
The allegations have not only thrown doubt over the future of the pro-growth policies that Trump promised, but they have raised the possibility he could end up leaving the presidency, it reported.
The ringgit weakened the major currencies, falling 0.06% against the US dollar to 4.3260 and slipped 0.29% versus the pound sterling to 5.6116. It lost 0.35% to the Singapore dollar to 3.1109 while it slid 0.67% against the euro to 4.8249.
Standard Chartered Research said: “While we currently forecast a return to ‘fair value’ of around 4.10 for US$-ringgit only in in the first half of 2018, risks of this happening sooner have clearly increased.”
MRCB fell in active trade as investors were concerned about the huge RM2.17bil rights issue. It was down 17 sen to RM1.57 with 46.8 million shares done
“A rights issue of this magnitude typically weighs on sentiment and could create an overhang on the share price over the short term,” said CIMB Equities Research.
Axiata fell 15 sen to RM5.25 and wiped out 2.2 points from the KLCI, Digi lost seven sen to RM4.95 while Maxis and Telekom were three sen lower at RM6.49 and RM6.42.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank and AmBank lost six sen each to RM14.02 and RM5.44, RHB Bank also six sen lower at RM5.40, Public Bank lost two sen to RM20.02, Maybank and CIMB dipped one sen each to RM9.33 and RM5.94.
Genting Bhd
fell 11 sen to RM9.86 and Genting Malaysia one sen lower at RM5.75 but Tenaga added four sen to RM13.80.
US light crude oil fell 15 cents to US$48.92 and Brent was down 18 cents to US$52.03. Petronas Dagangan fell 16 sen to RM24.24, Petronas Gas and Petronas Chemicals shed four sen to RM19 and RM7.27.
Crude palm oil for third-month deliverylost RM5 to RM2,638 per tonne. IOI Corp lost six sen to RM4.54, KL Kepong two sen lower at RM24.88, Sime Darby shed one sen to RM9.31 while PPB Group rose four sen to RM17.10.
UEM Sunrise rose three sen to RM1.32 in active trade after posting a strong set of results.
Aeon Credit gained 16 sen to RM19.54 and MAHB added 12 sen to RM8.29. Other gainers were Mudajaya, up 12 sen to RM1.51, Kerjaya eight sen to RM3.15 and its warrants 10 sen up to RM2.24.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.61% to 19,495.87;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.23% to 25,234.34;
CSI 300 was down 0.17% to 3,404.13;
Shanghai’s Composite Index shed 0.19% to 3,098.60;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.74% to 10,306.30;
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.56% to 9,957.40;
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.44% to 2,282.95 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.26% to 3,215.58.
Spot gold fell 66 cents to US$1,260.70.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
