Market Close KLCI recoups loss in last minute trades to end positively flat

by **Cals** Fri 27 Jun 2014, 00:29

Market Close KLCI recoups loss in last minute trades to end positively flat

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 26 June 2014 17:27

KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): The FBM KLCI ended positively flat, after gains in blue chip stocks had pushed the index into positive territory moments before market closed.

At 5.00pm, the benchmark index rose 0.42 points or 0.02% to end at 1,889.97 points after remaining in the red for most of the day.

The index was supported by last minute gains in stocks such as Genting Bhd and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd.

Regional chartist for Maybank, Lee Cheng Hooi, said that selling of Public Bank Bhd shares had led the earlier fall in the index.

Other than that, there was no adverse news in Malaysia that could explain the market.

“The ringgit was also sluggishly traded. I’d say that interest today seemed to be on the mid-cap and lower liners,” he told theedgemalaysia.com.

Bursa Malaysia saw 1.42 billion shares worth RM1.96 billion traded today.

Decliners led gainers at 414 versus 387, while 347 counters were unchanged.

United Plantations Bhd was the top loser on the board, while Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd led the gainers. The most actively traded stock was the newly-listed Boustead Plantations Bhd.

Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.27%, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.67%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased 1.45%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares swung higher on Thursday as weak U.S. growth seemed to further delay the day when interest rates might rise, prompting investors to plough funds into riskier assets in a desperate search for returns.

A shockingly poor reading on the U.S. economy for the first quarter also pressured the dollar while giving a lift to most commodities and resource-related currencies.