FBM KLCI stays below 1,560-level at mid-morning

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its losses on Tuesday, July 26
in line with the mixed sentiment at key regional markets as President
Barack Obama warned on Monday in a televised address that failure to act
on deficits and debt could cost jobs and do serious damage to the US
economy.

Overall, investors have showed few signs of panic even as Republicans
and Democrats have failed to bridge their differences with just a week
to go to the August 2 deadline the US Treasury has set for when it may
fail to pay out on Treasuries, according to Reuters.

The FBM KLCI shed 2.44 points to 1,557.16 at mid-morning. Losers led
gainers by 204 to 150, while 198 counters traded unchanged. Volume was
165.97 million shares valued at RM159.91 million.

At the regional markets the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.28% to
2,681.15, Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.17% to 3,166.17 and
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.09% to 22,272.31.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.04% to 10,054.34, South
Korea’s Kospi added 0.07% to 2,151.93 and Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.26% to
8,706.51.

BIMB Securities Research in a note July 26 said that despite the 88
point decline overnight, there was no presence of any panic selling on
Wall Street as traders remain optimistic that a resolution of sort would
be attained before the August deadline over the nation‘s debt ceiling.

The research house said it expects a cat and mouse game to persist in
the US until a deal is struck, and as a result, volatility within the
regional markets would only heighten until clarity emerges from the US.

“As for Malaysia, we envisage trading to be muted with the FBMKLCI to
be flat with the next immediate support at the 1,550 level.

“Monday’s news on KNM and Zecon’s RM17 billion deal to build an
integrated petrochemical complex in Johor should be positive on the
O&G sector and also the local bourse which had been starved of fresh
news of late,” it said.

On Bursa Malaysia, MISC fell 32 sen to RM7.58, CCB 17 sen to RM4.32,
Lafarge Malayan Cement 14 sen to RM7.30, Aeon 13 sen to RM7.25, Maxtral
11 sen to 17 sen, Boustead eight sen to RM5.82, KSL and Tenaga seven sen
to RM1.78 and RM6.16, while Catcha Media lost 6.5 sen to 62.5 sen.

Peterlabs Holdings, which made its Bursa Malaysia debut today, was
the most actively traded counter with 19.2 million shares done. The
stock fell three sen to 27 sen.

Other actives included Hibiscus, Flonic, Ingenuity Solutions, KNM, Wijaya and Jotech.

Among the gainers, KNM and Zecon advanced they secured a petroleum
refinery and storage facility project worth a total RM17 billion in
Johor.

KNM added 11 sen to RM1.86 while Zecon rose 10 sen to 58 sen.

Other gainers at mid-morning included Petronas Dagangan, Fima Corp, DRB Hicom and Tradewinds PLANTATION []s.