Market Close KLCI tumbles 2.7% on China's 9% slump; Ringgit weakens

by **Cals** Mon 24 Aug 2015, 23:31

Market Close
KLCI tumbles 2.7% on China's 9% slump; Ringgit weakens

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): The FBM KLCI tumbled 42.53 points as an almost 9% drop in the Shanghai Composite Index routed world markets amid China economic growth concerns.
Malaysia's KLCI closed at its intraday low of 1,532.14 at 5pm. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 8.5% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 5.17%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 4.61% while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.47%.
“Asean markets are very affected by the situation in China, and the slowdown in the economic situation has impacted oil prices, and these elements have been factored into the KLCI’s downtrend today,” Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com.
Reuters reported that Southeast Asian stock markets dived today, as sell-off in global equities and currency markets triggered a new round of selling, derailing outperforming shares in the Philippines and Vietnam and deepening losses in Indonesia.
The ringgit depreciated to fresh levels against the US dollar and the Singapore dollar.
Earlier, the ringgit weakened to 4.2620 against the US dollar. Compared to the Singapore dollar, the ringgit breached the 3.0000 mark to hit 3.0114.
Bursa Malaysia saw 2.58 billion shares valued at RM2.5 billion traded. Decliners outpaced gainers at 941 to 100.
Sime Darby Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Genting Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) were among the top decliners while index-linked put warrants dominated the gainers list. Investors buy index-linked put warrants to hedge against broader market losses.
Among decliners, Boustead Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) shares fell 30 sen or 7% to RM4.10 after the diversified entity said net profit fell to RM2.9 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 from RM34.6 million a year earlier.
Revenue was lower at RM2.21 billion versus RM2.59 billion.
Meanwhile, TSR Capital Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) shares fell four sen 6% to 58 sen after digitaledge Dailyreported that the planned redevelopment of the existing air force base in Butterworth, Penang, might be scrapped.
It was reported that TSR together with Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and Pembinaan Bukit Timahplanned to transform the existing 407.52ha air force base into an estimated RM10 billion integrated mixed development. LTAT is a major shareholder of Boustead Holdings.