Business

Published: Monday November 19, 2012 MYT 6:05:00 PM

Telcos bear brunt of selling as KLCI ends weaker


KUALA LUMPUR: Fund selling of telcos weighed on market sentiment on Monday as hopes of a technical rebounded faded as the KLCI continued to lose ground after hitting the all-time high of 1,675.69 on Nov 1.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 5.97 points or 0.37% to 1,623.31. Turnover was 848.81 million shares valued at RM1.11bil. There were 280 gainers, 378 losers and 335 stocks unchanged.

Almost all the key regional markets were higher with Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.43% to 9,153.20; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.49% to 21,262.06; Shanghai's Composite Index added 0.11% to 2,016.98 while South Korea's Kospi added 0.93% to 1,878.10 and Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.18% to 2,950.93. Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.01% to 7,129.04

US light crude oil gained 88 cents to US$87.80 and Brent 74 cents higher at US$1089.69.

Spot gold was US$9.06 higher ar US$1,722.78.

The ringgit was firmer against the US dollar at 3.0639.

Maybank KE Research said as Malaysia prepares for its 13th General Elections, political uncertainty could cause investors to adopt a risk-off approach.

On the external front, it said fiscal cliff worries would keep American markets prone to heavy selling.

At Bursa Malaysia, telcos, which had a strong run-up in recent months, have come under foreign fund selling. DiGi fell seven sen to RM4.79 and dragged the KLCI down 1.27 points. TM fell six sen to RM5.45 and Axiata four sen to RM5.96.

Among the consumer stocks, BAT fell the most, down RM1.80 to RM57.94, Nestle RM1.50 lower at RM62, F&N 18 sen to RM19.12. Amway dropped 42 sen to RM11.22. However, Dutch Lady added 20 sen to RM45.20 to be the top gainer.

Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM31 to RM2,460. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov 1-15 fell 1.2 percent to 759,452 tonnes from 768,550 tonnes shipped during Oct 1-15, Reuters reported cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance saying on Monday.

United Plantations fell 58 sen to RM24.40, Genting Plantations 23 sen to RM8.39 and KL Kepong 14 sen to RM20.60 while IOI Corp shed four sen to RM4.93. However, TAHPS added 18 sen to RM5.50 and Tradewinds Plantations nine sen to RM4.09.

Among the banks, HLFG added eight sen to RM12.70, RHB Cap six sen to RM7.66 and AMMB one sen to RM6.44.

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