Profit taking picks up pace, KLCI down 25pts

KUALA LUMPUR: Profit taking picked up pace in the afternoon session on Friday, with BAT, plantations and Genting Bhd among the casualties as investors unwound part of their stakes ahead of Sunday's general elections.
At
2.51pm, the FBM KLCI fell 25.21 points to 1,688.25. Turnover was 481.75
million shares valued at RM1.08bil. Declining stocks beat advancers 533
to 137 while 253 counters were unchanged.
CIMB Equities Research
said it remained Neutral on Malaysia with an end-2013 FBM KLCI target
of 1,640 which based on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of 13.5
times. This was based on an unchanged 5% discount to the three-year
moving average P/E, pending the election outcome on Sunday.
With
polling day on Sunday, its strategy for investors was to accumulate on
weakness during campaigning as Malaysia had lagged far behind its
regional peers in 2012 and also by far this year.
BAT fell the most, down RM1.80 to RM61.04. Petronas related counters were among the losers, with Petronas Gas down 64 sen to RM19.36 and Petronas Dagangan 52 sen to RM23.
Among the plantations, KL Kepong fell 94 sen to RM20.64 and PPB Group 26 sen to RM12.58. UMW lost 60 sen to RM13.70 and Genting Bhd 48 sen to RM10.02.