Business

Published: Monday September 24, 2012 MYT 1:26:00 PM
Updated: Monday September 24, 2012 MYT 1:54:16 PM

KLCI off intra-morning low, Maybank weighs

By Joseph Chin


KUALA LUMPUR: Some fund buying helped lift the FBM KLCI off the intra-morning low on Monday after the 30-stock index slid to the lowest since June this year on worries about the euro debt crisis and a sharp fall in crude palm oil (CPO) futures.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 13.35 points or 0.82% to 1,610.35, but off the intra-morning low of 1,595. The KLCI was also weighed down by losses in banking stocks including Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB.

Turnover was 427.82 million shares valued at RM554.69mil. Declining stocks beat advancers almost four to one, with 491 losers to 130 gainers and 252 stocks unchanged.

Key Asian markets also fell in early trade as investors braced for uncertainties from the eurozone. There was concern that talks among European leaders to resolve the region's debt crisis are deadlocked, curbing the earnings outlook for the region's exporters, wire reports said.

"Markets are very concerned about global economic woes. The markets had risen earlier due to liquidity but now investors have to focus on fundamentals," said an analyst.

However, the selling of Malaysian blue chips was a bit more pronounced ahead of the general elections and the sharp fall in crude palm oil (CPO) futures, he said.

Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.45% to 9,068.60; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.05% to 20,724.17; South Korea's Kospi lost 0.28% to 1,996.70 and Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 0.09% to 3,075.58.

However, Shanghai's Composite Index edged up 0.28% to 2,032.44 and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.18% to 7,768.36.

US light crude oil fell 60 cents to US$92.29 and Brent 64 cents lower at US$110.78. Spot gold tumbled US$11.10 to US$1,762.

The ringgit was weaker against the US dollar at 3.0671.

CPO for third-month futures fell RM166 to RM2,597, the lowest since September 2010, tracking the losses of the US soybeans.

Bearish views by industry analysts at a vegetable oil conference also weighed on palm oil prices.

Prices could drop to RM2,600 to RM2,700 per tonne till the end of this year, Dorab Mistry, head of edible oil trading with Indian conglomerate Godrej Industries, was quoted by Reuters saying at the Globoil India conference. Other analysts at the meet expressed similar views.

Batu Kawan fell 48 sen to RM17.92, Genting Plantations 18 sen to RM9.22 and IOI Corp 11 sen to RM4.89. However, PPB added six sen to RM12.06 while United Plantations rose 60 sen to RM25.72 with 100 shares done.

The main drag on the KLCI was Maybank, which fell 15 sen to RM9, erasing 2.74 points of the KLCI. Public Bank foreign lost 14 sen to RM14.20, Public Bank fell 12 sen to RM14.22, CIMB 10 sen to RM7.43 and HL Bank eight sen to RM13.22.

Among the consumer stocks, F&N fell 38 sen to RM18.02, GAB 24 sen to RM15.49 and Ajinomoto 14 sen lower at RM4.05.

UMW fell 19 sen to RM9.95, Petronas Dagangan 14 sen to RM21.68 and Petronas Chemicals 13 sen to RM6.41 while Genting Malaysia shed eight sen to RM3.42.

Hard-disk drive manufacturer JCY lost 4.5 sen to 82 sen with 15.61 million shares done.

Scomi was the most active with 25.52 million shares done, adding 1.5 sen to 35 sen. Its warrants added 0.5 sen to 3.5 sen.

IGB REIT, which was listed last Friday, rose three sen to RM1.42. KrisAssets added 18 sen to RM9.43.

Shell rose 24 sen to RM8.74, Hing Yap six sen to RM2.90 and WCT five sen to RM2.68.

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