Market Close KLCI ends flat amid escalating Ukraine crisis

by **Cals** Wed 07 May 2014, 22:58

Market Close KLCI ends flat amid escalating Ukraine crisis

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 07 May 2014 17:39

KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): The FBM KLCI ended flat at 1,860.43, erasing all earlier losses of the day.

A remisier said that the flattish market was due to the absence of indicators for the market.

“The index is not moving much due to the absence of leading indicators today, despite showing a decent volume of trades,” he told theedgemalaysia.com.

Export data for March released at midday did not help.

"Export growth for the first quarter of 2014 averaging at 10.9% is significantly higher than Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia’s full year target of 1.6% and 5.8% respectively.

“This is no small feat and a good start for Malaysia, and we are hoping that the momentum will sustain for the next three quarters,” said Rosnani Rasul, head of M&A Securities Research.

Across the board, 1.61 billion shares, valued at RM1.83 billion were traded.

Decliners edged gainers slightly at 373 to 363, while 326 counters remained unchanged.

The top losers were led by Petronas Dagangan Bhd, which reported a weaker 1QFY14 results, while PPB Group Bhd led the top gainers. Xinghe Holdings Bhd was the most actively traded counter.

Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei fell 2.93%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.00% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased by 1.05%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares stumbled to a one-month low and the safe-haven yen hovered just below a multi-month high against the dollar on Wednesday as the heightened possibility of Ukraine slipping into civil war depressed risk appetite.