Bears on the prowl on Bursa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Lotte Titan Chemical Holdings ended its first trading day on Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday on a downbeat note, weighed down further by the overall cautious market sentiment while the ringgit fell against several key currencies.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.1 points or 0.12% to 1,755.03. Turnover was 1.73 billion shares valued at RM2.07bil. The broader market weakened further with decliners beating advancers more than three to one or 659 losers, 193 gainers and 406 stocks unchanged.
The ringgit fell 0.03% to the US dollar at 4.2977, weakened 0.36% to the pound sterling at 5.5499 while it eased 0.03% to the euro at 4.8981. However, it edged up 0.03% to the Singapore dollar at 3.1046.
Hong Kong stocks extended this week's rally, posting their best day in four months on Tuesday, bolstered by strong gains among financial sector stocks, Reuters reported.
At Bursa Malaysia, Lotte Titan closed down 12 sen to RM6.38 on its first trading day. Its shares were repriced at RM6.50 from the earlier RM8.
Oil steadied on Tuesday after almost a week of sharp falls, but the outlook remained weak amid oversupply and several banks cut their price forecasts. US light crude fell 26 cents to US$44.14 and Brent lost 28 cents to US$44.60.
Petronas Chemical rose 10 sen to RM6.99, recouping half of the losses from the previous day. It pushed the KLCI up 1.31 points. Petronas Gas fell four sen to RM18.86 and Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM23.88.
Insurer LPI Capital fell 18 sen to RM18.42 after a weaker set of second quarter earnings. Another insurer Alianz lost 14 sen to RM13.60
CIMB Equities Research has downgraded Malaysian banks from Overweight to Neutral due to the impact of MFRS 9 -- the Malaysian version of International Financial Reporting Standards – and the slower projected 2018F net profit growth, less attractive valuations.
CIMB fell 14 sen to RM6.39 as investors took the opportunity to lock in gains after the recent run-up. The decline erased 2.08 points from the KLCI.
Hong Leong Bank lost eight sen to RM15.92, RHB Bank five sen down at RM5.02, AmBank one sen down to RM5, Public Bank was flat at RM20.32 and Maybank rose one sen to RM9.63.
Semiconductor and tech related counters also fell, with MPI down 22 sen to RM13.10, Vitrox 14 sen to RM7.61 and Pentamaster 13 sen lower at RM3.56.
WCT, which faces a 181.57mil riyals (RM214.12mil) claim from three companies over payment for a government project in Doha, Qatar where it was the main contractor, saw its shares coming under pressure. It ended down 14 sen to RM1.95.
As for consumer stocks, Ajinomoto was the top loser for the day, down 24 sen to RM22.88, Nestle lost 14 sen to RM83.42. BAT rose 50 sen to RM42.76.
Civil engineering company Advancecon, which staged a strong performanc eon its debut on Monday, shed five sen to RM79.5 sen.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM5 to RM2,588 per tonne.
Among the plantations, United Plantation rose 20 sen to RM27.40 and Batu Kawan 10 sen higher at RM19.02 while PPB Group added two sen to RM16.78 but IOI Corp shed one sen to RM4.48 and Sime Darby two sen lower at RM9.52.
Glove maker Kossan found favour with investors on the upbeat outlook, ending the day up 11 sen to RM6.86.
Tenaga lost two sen to RM14.10 but MAHB gained eight sen to RM8.55, Genting Bhd
was up five sen to RM9.08 and Genting Malaysia four sen higher at RM5.65.
Telcos were mixed, Digi rose two sen to RM5 and Telekom edged up obe sen to RM6.50 but Axiata lost five sen to RM4.64 and Maxis one sen lower at RM5.50.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.57% to 20,195.48;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 1.48% to 25,877.64.
CSI 300 added 0.47% to 3,670.81;
Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.3% to 3,203.04;
Hang Seng China Enterprise jumped 1.97% to 10,416.20;
Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.22% to 10.415.57;
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.58% to 2,396 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.85% to 3,218.80.
Spot gold fell US$3.60 tpo US$1,210.76 per troy ounce.
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