Market Close KLCI falls 11.58 pts to intraday low on oil prices

by **Cals** Sun 14 Dec 2014, 18:31

Market Close
KLCI falls 11.58 pts to intraday low on oil prices

By Gho Chee Yuan / theedgemarkets.com | December 12, 2014 : 5:41 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): The FBM KLCI declined 11.58 points or 0.66% to its intraday low, as lower crude oil prices dampened market sentiment.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,732.99. This is also the lowest close for the index in the last six months.

Reuters reported US crude futures continued to drop, after falling below US$60 a barrel for the first time in five years.

Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com that market sentiment remained weak, as the global oil prices continued to weaken.

"The main culprits that dragged down the KLCI index were Sapura Kencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).

"Despite CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and other stocks such as IOI Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Petronas Chemical Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) gaining, it was not enough to support the benchmark index," Wong said.

Across the stock exchange, decliners led gainers by 690 to 178, while 252 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.45 billion shares, valued at RM1.78 billion.

Top decliners included Petronas Gas Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Selangor Properties Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).

Top gainers included Perduren (M) Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and PPB Ggoup Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).

Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) was the most actively-traded counter, with 71 million shares done on the stock's final trading day. MAS fell 0.5 sen or 1.85% to close at 26.5 sen.

Earlier, investors scrambled MAS shares, as today offered the last chance for buyers to own the shares, which will entitle them to the 27 sen a share privatisation offer by government investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

Across the region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.66%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng weakened by 0.27%.

Reuters reported Asian shares got a lift on Friday, after upbeat U.S. spending data suggested weaker oil prices have some upside for the American economy, though a continued slide in crude prices kept gains in check, and heralded a gloomy opening for Europe markets.
[size=14]Global crude prices have plunged in recent weeks on massive oversupply, raising fears that deflation could hit economies around the world. But data on Thursday (Dec 11) showed cheaper gasoline prices apparently helped U.S. consumer spending rise broadly last month (November), and jobless claims also fell. [/size]