KUALA LUMPUR: Late selling of Genting pushed the FBM KLCI into the red at the close of trade on Monday though several banks buttressed the market sentiment.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 1.42 points or 0.08% to 1,860.08. Turnover was 2.72 billion shares valued at RM2.74bil. There were 479 gainers, 513 losers and 407 counters unchanged.
The ringgit was mixed against several major currencies. It rose 0.34% to the US dollar to 3.9058 and gained 0.19% to the euro at 4.8136 but fell 0.16% to the pound sterling at 5.4862 and was down 0.17% to the Singapore dollar at 2.9673.
On the external front, Hong Kong stocks rose to a three-week high on Monday, led by property and utility shares , amid signs mainland investors have ramped up investment in the city, Reuters reported.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.74% to 31,498.60, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.8% to 12,834.06.
China stocks extended gains on Monday, with major indexes climbing for a sixth session in a row, led by start-ups which saw their best day in seven months on expectations they will benefit from a proposal to delay reforms for initial
public offerings (IPOs). The Shanghai Composite index was up 1.2% at 3,329.57.
At Bursa Malaysia, Genting Bhd
fell 18 sen to RM8.92 and Genting Malaysia was down 12 sen to RM5.16. Both stocks' dcline erased 2.5 points from the KLCI. MISC fell 14 sen to RM6.79 and wiped out 1.83 points.
However, the banks held firm. Maybank rose 14 sen to RM10.40 and propped up the KLCI by 2.72 points. Hong Leong Bank's stronger earnings saw the share price climb 30 sen to RM18.52 and nudged the index up 1.16 points.
Public Bank continued to climb to fresh record highs, up 10 sen to RM22.90 and added 0.7 of a point to the KLCI. AmBank added two sen to RM4.53, CIMB one sen to RM7.20 but RHB Baj fell four sen to RM5.40.
Sime Darby fell seven sen to RM2.73 while Sime Plantation and Sime Property shed two sen each to RM5.50 and RM1.35.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM20 to RM2,543 per tonne. PPB Group added four sen to RM17.72 while KL Kepong and IOI Corp were flat at RM25.50 and RM4.79.
US light crude oil fell seven cents to US$63.48 and Brent12 cents lower at RM67.19. Petronas Chemicals fell six sen to RM8.05, Petronas Gas two sen lower at RM17.66 but Petronas Dagangan gained 16 sen to RM25.70.
Consumer stocks hit a speed bump as Nestle lost RM1 to RM122, BAT 70 seb to RM29.80, Ajinomoto and Heineken lost 18 sen each to RM22.42 and RM21.02. However, Dutch Lady bucked the trend to climb RM1.22 to RM67.70.
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