Bursa pulls back as US tariffs take effect

Genting slumped 15 sen to RM6.80 and erased 1.01 points while GentingM was down three sen to RM3.25 following the recent corporate news which were viewed as negative by investors.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reacted negatively to the US tariffs on US$34bil of Chinese imports, which came into effect at 12.01pm today.

The tariffs are seen as the "first shot" in the brewing conflict between the two trade giants, and are expected to derail growth in the global economy.

Shanghai's Composite Index fell 1.1% to 2016 lows, dragging down other Asian markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 12.84 points to 1,677.81. Trading volume was expectedly low at 1.09 billion shares with a value of RM706.54.There were 446 decliners versus 237 advancers and 342 counters unchanged.

Banks were among the leading decliners with Public Bank losing 40 sen to RM22.40 and CIMB dropping 12 sen to RM5.41. 

Hong Leong Bank slipped four sen to RM18.20 but Maybank bucked the trend by adding five sen to RM9.08.

Telcos were also on the slide; Maxis dropped seven sen to RM5.32, Axiata gave up 11 sen to RM4 and Telekom Malaysia slipped five sen to RM3.45. However, Digi edged up one sen to RM4.18.

Plantation counter KL Kepong fell 32 sen to RM23.92 while IOI slipped eight sen to RM4.39 and PPB dropped 24 sen to RM19.64.

On the broader market, IJM Plantation lost 15 sen to RM2.10, DKSH slipped 12 sen to RM3.61 and Aeon Credit fell 12 sen to RM14.46.

Caely added 10 sen to 96 sen, Mercury rose 10 sen to RM1.26 and Heineken gained 10 sen to RM22.52.

Oil prices were relatively stable on Friday despite losses during early trade. WTI crude rose eight cents to US$73.02 a barrel while Brent crude dropped nine cents to US$77.30 a barrel.

In currencies, the ringgit was little changed against the greenback at 4.0452. It was also stable against the pound sterling at 5.3490 and the Singapore dollar at 2.9658.