KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB, Digi and Petronas Gas pushed the FBM KLCI into the red on Thursday, mirroring the cautious key Asian markets, while trading volume on Bursa Malaysia declined.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 1.64 points or 0.09% to 1,755.63. Turnover was 1.72 billion shares valued at RM2bil.. There were 353 gainers, 429 losers and 437 stocks unchanged.
Analysts had said the KLCI had extended its consolidation despite the record highs on Wall Street, indicating the cautious investor sentiment while trading volume had been on a decline. They said it was important the KLCI stay above the crucial 1,750 level.
Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended lower on Thursday as an upcoming meeting by the European Central Bank kept investors skittish and looking for cues on a much anticipated unwinding of unconventional policy that has kept borrowing costs at rock bottom, Reuters reported.
The ringgit fell 0.11% to the US dollar to 4.2913 but inched up 0.09% to the pound sterling at 5.5792, it edged up 0.01% to the Singapore dollar at 3.1315 and climbed 0.08% to the euro at 4.9375.
CIMB fell 11 sen to RM6.31 and erased 1.69 points from the KLCI. Khazanah Nasional Bhd sold 90.52 million shares of CIMB in an off-market deal at RM6.31 each on Thursday.
Maybank, RHB Bank and Hong Leong Bank lost two sen each to RM9.62, RM5.05 and RM15.68 and AmBank shed one sen to RM5 while Public Bank was flat at RM20.36.
As for telcos, Digi lost five sen to RM4.74 and erased 0.66 of a point, Telekom was down four sen to RM6.35, Maxis fell three sen to RM5.53 while Axiata bucked the trend to climb five sen to RM4.73.
Genting Bhd
rallied 21 sen to RM9.55 and boosted the KLCI by 1.36 points, Genting Malaysia added six sen to RM5.88, MISC edged up two sen to RM7.39, Tenaga lost four sen to RM14.08.
Westports shed one sen to RM3.66 after posting a weaker set of second quarter earnings.
Oil prices were steady on Thursday, holding gains made the previous session after falling U.S. crude and oil product inventories lifted the market. US light crude oil and Brent inched up three cents each to US$47.15 and US$49.73.
Petronas Gas fell 18 sen to RM18.68, Petronas Dagangan lost six sen to RM23.64 while Petronas Chemical rose one sen to RM6.95. Enra fell 15 sen to RM2.95 and UWM Oil and Gas dipped one sen to 32 sen. Refiner Petron lost 11 sen to RM8.35.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery climbed RM43 to RM2,568 per tonne. PPB Group and IOI Corp were flat at RM16.72 and RM4.49, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.56 and KL Kepong two sen to RM24.74.
Iskandar Waterfront City fell seven sen to RM1.39 in active trade as hopes of it getting part of the Bandar Malaysia project dimmed.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.62% to 20,144.59;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.26% to 26,740.21;
CSI 300 gained 0.49% to 3,747.88;
Shanghai’s Composite Index gained 0.43% to 3,244.86;
Hang Seng China Enterprise shed 0.13% to 10,846.83;
Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.06% to 10,499.36;
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.49% to 2,441.84; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.96% to 3,293.13.
Spot gold fell US$3.22 to US$1,238.03.
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