The key FBM KLCI fell briefly below the crucial 1,600 level in afternoon trade on Monday on mounting selling pressure in line with the key Asian markets.
KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign selling of Public Bank and some profit taking of Press Metal
and CIMB pushed the FBM KLCI deeper into the red on Wednesday, a reversal from the previous day.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 13.98 points or 0.82% to 1,688.14 and in percentage terms, it was the worst performer among the key Asian markets.
Turnover on Bursa declined to 2.07 billion shares valued at RM1.92bil. There were 325 gainers, 468 losers and 376 counters unchanged.
Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index ended flat, while the China H-shares index rose, as optimism over stimulus measures to boost economic growth in China offset concerns about the tepid outlook for trade and global economy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.14%, China's Shanghai Compositie Index rose 0.05%, South Korea's Kospi added 0.47% but Singapore's STI fell 0.68%.
At Bursa, Public Bank gave up 38 sen to RM24.80, more than what it chalked up in late trade on Tuesday, and the loss erased 2.6 points from the KLCI.
CIMB lost 11 sen to RM5.66, Ambank three sen to RM4.50, Hong Leong Bank two sen to RM20.68 but RHB Bank and Maybank edged up three sen each to RM5.49 and RM9.54.
Press Metal lost 27 sen to RM4.18 and erased 1.8 points from the KLCI, Genting Bhd 26 sen lower at RM6.67 and Tenaga 16 sen to RM13.54 while Genting Malaysia and Sime Darby shed two sen each to RM3.26 RM2.28.
US light crude oil fell 14 cents to US$52.87 and Brent fell 15 cents to US$61.35.
Petronas Dagangan was the top loser of the day, down 40 sen to RM25.60 and wiog pit 0.7 point from the KLCI, Petronas Chemical lost 10 sen to RM8.42 but Petronas Gas gained six sen to RM17.68 while Dialog shed four sen to RM3.03.
However, the weaker ringgit saw crude palm oil for third month delivery advancing RM21 to RM2,284 per tonne – the highest since Sept 2018.
As for plantations, United Plantation fell 30 sen to RM25.80 with 900 shares dones, Batu Kawan 20 sen to RM16.70, Sime Plantation two sen lower at RM5.15, IOI Corp and KL Kepong were unchanged at RM4.65 and RM24.60 but PPB Group edged up six sen to RM17.88.
FGV was in focus, rising eight sen to RM1.01 with 80.12 million shares done. The shares had rallied after it announced a stronger set of key performance indicators last week.
In the latest development, FGV appointed Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan as group chief executive officer with effect from Wednesday. The board also welcomed three new members of the management team. They are Datuk Mohd Hairul Abdul Hamid, Mazri Abdul Rahim and Dr Christina Ooi Su Siang.
The US dollar held near a three-week high after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged, boosting risk appetite and sending the yen lower, Reuters reported.
The ringgit fell 0.15% to 4.1380, the weakest since Jan 4. The local unit fell 0.85% to the pound sterling, gave up 0.16% against the euro to 4.7011 and lost 0.23% versus the Singapore dollar at 3.0438.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
