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 closed lower on Friday, weighed down by losses in Public Bank, Sime Plantation and Tenaga Nasional, though strong buying of Genting Malaysia and Genting helped cushion the decline.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 8.62 points or 0.52% to 1,647.96. Year-to-date, the index is down 2.52%. It is trading at a price-to-earnings of 17.96 times. The market capitalisation for the KLCI stocks was RM1.06 trillion.
Turnover for the day was 2.56 billion shares valued at RM2.05bil. Decliners led advancers 513 to 367 while 386 counters were unchanged.
Of the 30 stocks in the KLCI, only Genting and GentingM were in the positive zone, reflecting the attrition which the local stock market has been undergoing.
The weak investor confidence was also seen in other key Asian markets. Japan;s Nikkei 225 fell 0.45%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index 0.69% lower, South Korea's Kospi 0.4% and Singapore's STI 0.52%. However, Shaghai's Composite rose 0.24%.
Reuters reported in Asia, uncertainties over whether Washington and Beijing will be able to settle gaping differences over trade, technology and even geopolitical ambitions, kept many investors on guard.
Negotiators from the two countries will meet in Shanghai next week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.6%.
Investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage point at its policy meeting ending on July 31 to protect the economy from potential damage from the U.S.-China trade war.
At Bursa, consumer stocks were among the top losers with BAT down RM3.40 to RM26.20 due to its weak results, Ajinomoto lost 34 sen to RM17.16, Nestle 30 sen to RM147.80 and Heineken 18 sen to RM23.10.
Plantations also fell despite the rebound in crude palm oil prices. The CPO for third month delivery rose RM14 to RM2,072 per tonne.
Sime Plantation closed down 10 sen to RM4.72 and erased 1.2 points, KL Kepong slid 26 sen to RM23.56, IOI Corp seven sen to RM4.18 and PPB Group two sen to RM18.70. United Plantations lost 44 sen to RM26.06.
Public Bank fell 26 sen to RM22.42 on sustained profit taking, erasing 1.76 points from the KLCI, HL Bank was down 14 sen to RM18.14, AmBank six sen to RM4.24, CIMB and RHB Bak three sen each to RM5.14 and RM5.65, Maybank two sen to RM8.73.
Tenaga fell 12 sen to RM13.62 and wiped out 1.19 points, MISC 11 sen to RM7.24, IHH five sen lower at RM5.70 and Sime Darby was unchanged at RM2.19.
GentingM extended its gains, up 23 sen to RM3.90 and pushing the KLCI up 2.39 points while Genting added 16 sen to RM7.06.
GentingM reached a settlement with Fox, Twenty First Century Fox (21CF) and The Walt Disney Company over their disputes related to the Fox-branded theme park in Genting Highlands.
The group has entered into a settlement agreement with Fox Entertainment Group LLC, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp, Foxnext LLC, 21CF and Disney, which will see them granting GenM a licence to use certain Fox intellectual properties.
Riding on the positive outcome on the theme park was Only World Group, whose operations were impacted by the dispute. The resolution saw its warrants jump seven sen to 23.5 sen and its shares gained 10.5 sen to 66.5 sen.
Among the oil and gas stocks, Petronas Chemical fell five sen to RM7.60, Petronas Dagangan six sen to RM24.14 and Petronas Gas unchanged at RM16.22 while Dialog shed two sen to RM3.47.
US light crude oil rose 27 cents to US$56.29 and Brent added 27 cents also to US$63.66.
The ringgit was 0.1% lower against the US dollar at 4.1185 and eased 0.12% to the euro at 4.5877 but it rose 0.19% to the pound sterling to 5.1252 and 0.17% higher versus the Singapore dollarat 3.0099.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
