Market Close KLCI loses 0.13%, tracks regional losses

Market Close KLCI loses 0.13%, tracks regional losses
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Kamarul Anwar of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 05 June 2013 17:40


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KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): The FBM KLCI was not immune to the decline in regional markets today. Concerns over the US Federal Reserve winding down its monetary stimulus programme continued to haunt investors, causing Asia Pacific stock markets to close lower.

At 5pm, the KLCI dipped 2.32 points or 0.13% to 1,774.42 points. The index had erased gains and ventured into red territory immediately after returning from midday break.

The KLCI fell to an intraday low of 1,772.38 points

The benchmark was pushed down by blue chip stocks such as BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (M) [] Bhd (BAT), KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD [], Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, RHB CAPITAL BHD [] and Genting Malaysia Bhd.

JF Apex Securities senior analyst Lee Cherng Wee said the KLCI closed lower today on external factors, chiefly the possibility of the US' Federal Reserve tapering or discontinuing its quantitative easing programme.

“Local retail investors only help to increase trading volume. However, institutional funds’ trading value is much bigger,” Lee told theedgemalaysia.com.

Bursa Malaysia trade statistics show foreign institutional funds were the biggest and only net buyers in the exchange last month, at RM3.9 billion.

Lee said investors’ concerns will continue to cause the KLCI to trade sideways in the coming days.

Across the exchange today, a total of 2.22 billion shares worth RM2.14 billion changed hands. Losers outpaced gainers at 507 and 330 respectively.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] was the most-active stock, followed by DVM TECHNOLOGY [] BHD [] and Ingenuity Consolidated Bhd.

The biggest gainers were United PLANTATION []s Bhd, TAHPS GROUP BHD [] and HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP BHD [].

Top decliners included NESTLE (M) BHD [], AEON Co (M) Bhd and BAT.

Most major indices in the Asia Pacific closed lower today.Japan’s Nikkei suffered the biggest loss as it shed 518.89 points or 3.83%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 216.28 points or 0.97%, China’s Shanghai Composite inched down by 0.65 points or 0.03%, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 65.6 points or 1.34%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 30.32 points or 1.52% while Singapore’s Straits Times closed 36.41 points or 1.11% lower.

Reuters reported that Asian shares hit 2013 lows on Wednesday as uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve would begin trimming its massive stimulus programme fanned worries about funds exiting the region, raising caution before key US jobs data later this week.

"Wariness over an exit from the Fed stimulus is driving Asian shares lower on worries that the ample money invested here could flee, although an improving US economy should be seen as positive for many export-reliant Asian economies," said Tokyo’s Daiwa Securities senior strategist Hirokazu Yuihama.