KLCI closes slightly lower on profit taking

by **hlk** Thu 19 Jul 2012, 20:05

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI, which recorded several record highs in
recent days, saw the 30-stock retreating slightly to end Thursday in
the red on some mild profit taking but the undertone was still firm.
At
5pm, the FBM KLCI was down a marginal 0.4 of a point to 1,644.60, off
the record intra-day high of 1,647.94. Turnover was 1.11 billion shares
valued at RM1.59bil. There were 389 gainers, 378 losers and 357 stocks
unchanged.
Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225
rose 0.79% to 8,795.55; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.66% to
19,559.05; Shanghai's Composite Index added 0.73% to 2,184.84 while
Taiwan's Taiex advanced 1.41% to 7,148.57 and South Korea's Kospi 1.56%
higher at 1,822.96. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.39% to
3,028.96.
US light crude oil rose 76 cents to US$96.63 and Brent 96 cents to US$106.12. Spot gold added US$9.25 to US$1,582.50.
The ringgit was firmer against the US dollar at 3.1533.
Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM52 to RM3,045.
At
Bursa Malaysia, BAT fell the most, down RM1.16 to RM56.72, dragging the
KLCI down 0.52 of a point. YTL fell five sen to RM1.90, erasing 0.87
from the index.
Genting fell five sen to RM9.39 and Genting Malaysia two sen to RM3.58. Telekom Malaysia shed four sen to RM6.21.
Among the plantations, Genting Plantations fell 17 sen to RM9.49, TDM 10 sen to RM4.57 while KLK gave up four sen to RM23.76. However, IOI
rose nine sen to RM5.38, pushing the KLCI up 1.36 points and United
Planrtations remained the top gainer, up 60 sen to RM25.90 with just
100 shares done.
F&N lost 32 sen to RM18.36, Pharmaniaga 23 sen to RM9.99, Lafarge Cement 20 sen to RM7.80.
Cybertowers was the most active, down six sen to 31 sen with 53.66 million shares done.
However,
SapuraKencana Petroleum rose 11 sen to RM2.45 while its call warrants,
SKPetro-CB added 4.5 sen to 24 sen after it was rated a new buy at
BofA-Merrill Lynch.
Nestle
gained 38 sen to RM59.50, Allianz 21 sen to RM5.68, PetDag 20 sen to
RM21.44 and Bursa climbed 19 sen to RM6.70 on stronger earnings.