Market Close KLCI in negative territory for second day

by **Cals** Thu 21 Jan 2016, 18:31

Market Close

[size=28]KLCI in negative territory for second day

By Yimie Yong / theedgemarkets.com | January 21, 2016 : 6:10 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Malaysia's stock market extended its losses for a second straight day today, with all the indexes dipping into negative territory, in tandem with weaker regional Asian markets as crude oil prices continued to fall.

The benchmark FBM KLCI fell 17.91 points or 1.11% to end the day at 1,600.92, led by losses in SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.65) (-9 sen to RM1.53), Westports Holdings Bhd ( Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 1.90) (-13 sen to RM3.80), RHB Capital Bhd ( Valuation: 1.35, Fundamental: 1.10) (-14 sen to RM5.08) andBritish American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd ( Valuation: 1.50, Fundamental: 1.35) (-RM1.46 to RM54.50).

In addition to worries about global oversupply, concerns are growing that China's economy could slow further and cut demand in the world's second-largest oil consumer. The tumbling oil prices are indicative of slowing global growth.

Affin Hwang Capital research analyst Chue Kwok Yan said the KLCI was possibly dragged down by regional markets, which turned negative today.

He also noted that the correlation between crude oil prices and ringgit has lessened, based on the data in the past six weeks.

"For the domestic stock market, investors are more concern about global growth compared with crude oil price," he told theedgemarkets.com via telephone.

In his note dated Jan 21, he remained positive on the Malaysian stock market, with an unchanged year-end KLCI target of 1,793 points.

He said the main risk stemming from Brent crude is if the rating agencies downgrade Malaysia's sovereign rating, thus putting pressure on the ringgit and, in turn, damaging consumer sentiment.

Bursa Malaysia saw 165 gainers compared with 846 losers today. A total of 2.52 billion shares valued at RM2.12 billion changed hands.

The top gainers were Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.10, Fundamental: 1.10) (+2 sen to RM2.52), IOI Corp Bhd ( Valuation: 0.30, Fundamental: 0.35) (+3 sen to RM4.33), PPB Group Bhd ( Valuation: 1.60, Fundamental: 2.30) (+4 sen to RM15.62), Axiata Group Bhd ( Valuation: 1.70, Fundamental: 1.15) (unchanged at RM6.14) and Petronas Dagangan Bhd ( Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 2.10) (unchanged at RM23.80).

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

(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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