Business

Published: Wednesday August 1, 2012 MYT 9:59:00 AM

Blue chips reverse losses, UMW, PetGas lift

By Joseph Chin


KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips reversed their early losses on Wednesday, as mild buying of key stocks liked UMW and Petronas Gas helped the FBM KLCI start August on a firmer note.

At 9.38am, the KLCI was up 2.38 point to 1,633.98. Turnover was 304.86 million shares valued at RM119.71mil. The broader market was cautious, with declining stocks beating advancers 178 to 149 while 195 counters were unchanged.

Reuters reported Asian shares extended losses as a softer Chinese manufacturing data further undermined the fragile market sentiment as expectations faded of stimulus action this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

China's official factory purchasing managers' index inched down to 50.1 in July, below expectations and down from 50.2 in June, marking the lowest reading since November.

At Bursa Malaysia, Dutch Lady added 50 sen to RM37.50, GAB 18 sen to RM14.18 and BAT 18 sen also to RM59.92.

UMW rose 36 sen to RM9.83 and PetGas 16 sen to RM18.66 while KPJ was 10 sen higher at RM6.03.

Patimas's share price plunged 5.5 sen to 4.5 sen. It was the most active with 98.88 million shares done.

Patimas announced a delay in the issuance of the annual audited financial statements (AAFS) due to unresolved significant accounting and audit findings/queries in the accounts of the group of companies.

KLK fell 34 sen to RM23.42, Nestle 10 sen to RM3.80 and Genting seven sen to RM9.40.

IHH call warrants, IHH-CJ rose 12 sen to 27 sen and IHH-CC nine sen to 24 sen. However, the other call warrants, IHH-CK fell 7.5 sen to 7.5 sen and IHH-CM six sen to nine sen.

Among auto-related counters, MBM Resources fell 10 sen to RM3.80 and APM nine sen to RM4.90.

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