Market Close KLCI flat ahead of US Fed meet

Market Close KLCI flat ahead of US Fed meet
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Kamarul Anwar of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 19 June 2013 17:31

KUALA LUMPUR (June 19): The FBM KLCI displayed a volatile trading pattern after the midday break today and closed 1.17 points or 0.07% lower at 1,772.88 points.

This came before the US Federal Reserve's meeting which could potentially end the speculation of whether it will taper its bond-buying programme, which has scared many an investor for the past month.

The benchmark rose to as high as 1,782.39 points before being pulled down by losses in heavyweights such as British American Tobacco Bhd, UMW HOLDINGS BHD [], PETRONAS DAGANGAN BHD [], PUBLIC BANK BHD [] and RHB CAPITAL BHD [].

JF Apex Securities senior analyst Lee Cherng Wee said the morning gains came after US equity bellwethers closing between 0.8% and 0.9% higher.

“However, the weaker Asian markets’ performances influenced the KLCI to decline later,” he said.

A fund manager told theedgemalaysia.com that many investors took profits before US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to make a statement tomorrow morning.

All eyes and ears will be on the Fed announcing its decision on the quantitative easing (QE).

“If you look at the currency exchange, the ringgit is weakening against the US dollar today. This is because foreign investors were taking profits in the morning,” the fund manager explained.

However, the fund manager thinks the Fed will continue with the US$85 billion-per-month programme of buying bonds as US economy “is still not settled”.

Across Bursa Malaysia, a total of 1.43 billion shares worth RM1.82 billion were transacted today. Decliners beat gainers by 417 to 352 respectively.

WINSUN TECHNOLOGIES BHD [] emerged as the most active counter. It was followed by LUSTER INDUSTRIES BHD [] shares and warrants.

The biggest gainers included United PLANTATION []s Bhd, AEON CREDIT SERVICE (M) BHD [] and CAHYA MATA SARAWAK BHD [].

Today’s biggest decliners were BAT, MEDIA PRIMA BHD [] warrants and UMW.

Among Asia Pacific indices, Japan’s Nikkei closed 237.94 points or 1.83% higher while Australia’s ASX 200 gained 12.31 points or 0.98%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 238.99 points or 1.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite lost 13.45 points or 0.62%, and Korea’s Kospi inched down by 12.31 points or 0.65%.

European shares were down on Wednesday as investors look to the US Federal Reserve for clues on the duration of its equity-friendly stimulus programme, according to Reuters.

The possibility that the Fed could scale back its bond purchases has spooked global equity markets in recent weeks and, although it was generally not expected to make such an announcement at the meeting which ends late on Wednesday (Thursday morning Malaysian time), investors remained nervous.