Market close KLCI falls 0.2% amid World Cup fever

by **Cals** Wed 02 Jul 2014, 02:01

Market close KLCI falls 0.2% amid World Cup fever

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Jonathan Gan of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 01 July 2014 17:32

KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): The FBM KLCI fell 0.2 % due to lack of catalysts during the World Cup game.

By market close today, the benchmark index had fallen 3.59 points or 0.2% to 1879.12.

Choo Swee Kee, chief investment officer of TA Investment Mgmt Bhd told theedgemalaysia.com that the market seemed mixed and directionless today.

“Only selected stocks which had corporate rumours generated interest today but on the whole most investors stayed on the side lines. Things should improve by the second half of July after the World Cup season ends,” he said.

The market saw a total of 1.71 billion shares, worth RM1.65 billion, traded. Gainers trailed behind decliners 369 to 415.

The top gainer of the day was British American Tobacco Bhd while Lysaght Galvanized Steel Bhd led the decliners.

Econpile Holdings Bhd was the most active stock following its debut yesterday on Bursa’s main market.

Across the Asia Pacific, the Japanese Nikkei rose 1.08% while the South Korea Kospi fell 0.16%.

Bloomberg reported that Samsung Electronics Co led a 0.3 % drop in South Korea’s Kospi index while the rupiah sank 0.4 percent versus the dollar.

“Investors are waiting for more signs that the pace of global growth is rising,” Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila “Earnings and GDP growth for the second quarter could break the consolidation and set the tone.”