Market Close KLCI edges down 0.19%, select blue chips weigh

by **Cals** Fri 18 Jul 2014, 01:07

Market Close KLCI edges down 0.19%, select blue chips weigh

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 17 July 2014 17:40

KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): The FBM KLCI fell 0.19% today, weighed down by select blue chips, in tandem with the downtrend among other bourses in Asia.

The benchmark index declined 3.57 points or 0.19% to close at 1,883.14 points.

A remisier told theedgemalaysia.com that declines in Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd's share prices had dragged down the index.

“Tenaga fell due to its recently released results, while I think Astro may be down due to profit-taking activity as the World Cup has ended.

“The fall in the KLCI today is in line with other markets in the region,” he said.

Bursa Malaysia saw 2.12 billion shares worth RM2.22 billion traded. Gainers edged decliners at 416 against 411, while 347 counters were unchanged.

Tenaga dropped 16 sen or 1.28% to RM12.30, while Astro fell nine sen or 2.7% to RM3.26.

The newly-listed Tanah Makmur Bhd is among the top gainers. The stock jumped 69 sen or 55.2% on its debut today. Berjaya Assets Bhd’s warrants (BJASSET-WA) led the top losers, plunging 22.5 sen or 44% to 22.5 sen.

Sumatec Resources Bhd remained as the most actively traded counter today. Sumatec was up 2.5 sen to close at 42 sen with 198.3 million shares traded. The stock has climbed nearly 61% from last month low of 26 sen.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed almost flat at 23,520.87 points, Japan’s Nikkei was lower by 0.06% to 15,370.26, while South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.37% higher at 2,020.9 points.

Reuters reported that Asian equities dipped today, giving up earlier modest gains as Chinese shares fell, while the euro probed recent lows against the US dollar amid speculation the US Federal Reserve was tilting towards tighter monetary policy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan fell 0.2% after rising earlier in the session after another record closing high on Wall Street.