Market Close KLCI bucks China share slump; Maybank up

Market Close
KLCI bucks China share slump; Maybank up

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): The FBM KLCI rebounded 7.06 points or 0.45% as investors chased beaten-down Malaysian shares. The KLCI bucked China's 6% share loss on further yuan devaluation concerns.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,579.60 points on gains in counters like Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and DiGi.Com Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard). Maybank, the seventh-largest gainer across Bursa Malaysia, rose 24 sen or 3% to settle at RM8.43.
Yesterday, the KLCI fell 24.28 points or 1.5% to 1,572.54. Today, analysts saw further upside for the KLCI following the technical rebound.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd technical analyst Loui Low said the KLCI's technical rebound appeared genuine.
"The index has been coming down for quite some time. Perhaps right now is a quite genuine rebound," Low told theedgemarkets.com over the phone.
Bursa Malaysia rising stocks outnumbered decliners at 409 to 407 while 360 counters were unchanged.
A total of 2.25 billion shares valued RM2.11 billion were traded. Top gainers included United Plantations Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Top Glove Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) while P.I.E Industrial Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) led decliners.
The most-actively traded stocks included KLCI-linked put and call warrants.
In China, the Shanghai Composite dipped 6.1% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.43% on yuan devaluation concerns.
Such sentiment also hit other Asian stock markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.32% while South Korea's Kospi closed 0.62% lower.
Reuters reported that stocks fell on Tuesday, with European markets buckling under heavy selling pressure carried over from Asia after Chinese shares slumped 6% and emerging market currencies and oil prices remained anchored at historic lows.
In currency markets, the ringgit strengthened to 4.0860 versus the US dollar at 4.43pm after depreciating to its weakest level for the day at 4.1285.
The ringgit's trading dynamics came amid lower crude oil prices. At 4.20pm, Brent oil declined to US$48.47 per barrel while US oil was down at US$41.58.