KLCI slides into the red by midday, ringgit strengthens against USD

KUALA LUMPUR: The local benchmark index dipped into negative territory as it approached midday, falling nearly a point to 1,832.31 points.

The local market ran inverse to other regional markets, which were buoyed by the end of the US government shutdown on Monday night.

Turnover in the morning session was 2.06 billion shares worth a value of RM1.12bil. There were 366 advancers to 268 decliners and 621 counters unchanged.

Leading the gains among KLCI-component stocks was Genting, which added eight sen to RM9.80. Tenaga Nasional rose four sen to RM15.86. 

However, Petronas Gas, which saw a strong opening on Tuesday, fell 44 sen by midday to RM17.56.

Petronas Malaysia fell 26 sen to RM12.46, while Public Bank also weighed, dipping four sen to RM20.92, and Genting Malaysia shaved six sen to RM5.45.

On the wider market, Top Glove surged 56 sen to RM9.71 while MAHB gained 18 sen to RM9.18 and Vitrox rose 28 sen to RM6.44.

Decliners included Petron Malaysia, falling 6 sen to RM12.46; Tasek, dropping 10 sen to RM11.60; and Genting Plantations, sliding 10 sen to RM10.20.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday on healthy economic growth and ongoing supply restraints by Opec and Russia, Reuters reported.

Us light crude rose 38 cents to US$63.95 a barrel while Brent crude gained 35 cents to US$69.38 a barrel.

In currencies, the ringgit continued to strengthen against the greenback as increased global risk sentiment weighed on the latter. It strengthened 0. 16% against the US dollar to 3.9272.

However, the local currency weakened nearly half a percent against the pound sterling at 5.4926 and slightly against the Singapore dollar at 2.9806.