Market Close KLCI down 10.39pts as crude oil prices fall

by **Cals** Wed 20 Jan 2016, 18:17

Market Close

[size=28]KLCI down 10.39pts as crude oil prices fall

By Yimie Yong / theedgemarkets.com | January 20, 2016 : 5:39 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): The FBM KLCI fell 10.39 points or 0.6%, tracking weaker Asian share markets as crude oil prices fell.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,618.83 points on losses in stocks like SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.65) and UMW Holdings Bhd ( Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 1.00).

Across Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.82%, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 3.71% while South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.34%.

Reuters reported that Asian stock markets slumped to fresh four-year lows on Wednesday as a relentless slide in oil prices snuffed out an attempted rally on Wall Street and dealt a further blow to global investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Crude futures slumped again in Asian trade on Wednesday, with US oil dropping more than 3% towards US$27 a barrel and its lowest since 2003, on worries about global oversupply.

That came after the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialised countries on energy policy, warned that oil markets could "drown in oversupply" in 2016.

In Malaysia, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com that the KLCI's performance today was mainly affected by what he described as a "regional sell down".

"The (volatile) situation in the local stock market will remain for some time mainly due to the volatility seen in oil price," Wong said.

He said buying opportunities arose for some oil and gas shares as crude oil prices had never been so low for a long time.

Bursa Malaysia saw 830 decliners versus 168 gainers, while 259 counters were unchanged. A total of 2.35 billion shares valued at RM2.1 billion changed hands.

The top gainer was Guinness Anchor Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.10, Fundamental: 2.30) while the leading decliner was Lay Hong Bhd ( Valuation: 0.80, Fundamental: 0.75). The most actively-traded counters included Tiger Synergy Bhd ( Valuation: 0.90, Fundamental: 1.00) and Nexgram Holdings Bhd ( Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 1.15).

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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