KLCI slips 0.9% to below 1,700 at midday

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's key FBM KLCI fell at midday on Friday to
below the psychological important 1,700 level as investors took profit
ahead of Sunday's general elections while foreign asset managers did
not expect the polls to disrupt the economy.
At 12.30pm, the FBM
KLCI was down 15.59 points or 0.91% to 1,697.87. Turnover was 394.62
million shares valued at RM819.44mil. Declining stocks beat advancers
more than three to one, with 475 losers to 144 gainers while 254
counters were unchanged.
Bloomberg reported Malaysian government bonds were handing investors the best returns in six months as Baring Asset Management Ltd. and Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH see little prospect of this weekend's election disrupting the economy.
"Ringgit-denominated
sovereign notes advanced 0.6 percent in April, the biggest gain since
October and a seventh monthly increase, according to an index from HSBC Holdings Plc.
"The
cost to insure the nation's debt has declined since the dissolution of
Parliament on April 3 and is cheaper than neighbouring Indonesia,
Thailand and the Philippines," the report said.
On the market, analysts said retail investors were staying on the sidelines until the elections are over.
On
Thursday, retail investors and institutions were net sellers at
RM224.7mil and RM15.3mil but foreigners were net buyers at RM240mil.
Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM8 to RM2,269.
Affin
Investment Research cut its CPO average selling price forecast for 2013
from RM2,800 a tonne to RM2,600, which assumes an average of RM2,500 in
the first half and RM2,700 in the second half.
It also lowered
its CPO average selling price forecasts for 2014-2015 from RM2,800 to
RM2,700. KL Kepong fell 56 sen to RM21.02 and erased 1.07 points off
the KLCI, PPB Group fell 22 sen to RM12.62 and Sime Darby three sen to RM9.35. Howeverr, BLD Plantations rose eight sen to RM8.78.
Genting Bhd fell 42 sen to RM10.08 and wiped out a hefty 3.35 points off the KLCI. Petronas Gas fell 48 sen to RM19.52, UMW 40 sen to RM13.90 and Petronas Dagangan 32 sen to RM23.20.
Among the consumer stocks, BAT slid 80 sen to RM62.04 but Carlsberg rose 10 sen to RM14.24.
As for banks, HL Bank fell 16 sen to RM14.28 and HLFG 10 sen to RM15.28 while CIMB shed eight sen to RM7.63 and Maybank three sen lower at RM9.59.
Among the key regional markets:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.69% to 22,823.70;
Shanghai's Composite Index rose 1.82% to 2,213.49;
Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.12% to 8,138.50;
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.28% to 1,962.77;
Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.56% to 3,383.30.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 3.0444 from 3.0504 the previous day.
US light crude oil fell 22 cents to US$93.77 and Brent 20 cents lower at US$102.65.
Spot gold rose US$7.42 to US$1,474.49.