Bursa closes at seven-week low, CI down 9.55 pts

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Bursa Malaysia closed at a seven-week low today as increasing worries over external developments curbed investors’ appetite, dealers said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.55 points from yesterday’s close to finish at 1,728.64.

The benchmark index moved between 1,723.74 and 1,743.16 throughout the trading session.   

Losses in Maybank, SapuraKencana, CIMB and Hong Leong Bank dragged the composite index down by a total of 6.051 points.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd Head of Research Pong Teng Siew said the day’s trading was mainly influenced by concerns about a credit crunch in China, reflecting the prospect of slower economic growth for the world’s second largest economy.

China’s equity market tumbled after the country’s central bank yesterday allowed commercial lending rates to spike higher.

“The Shanghai Composite Index was badly hit by the central bank’s announcement and this move affected most Asian countries as China is the strongest market in the region.

“They (investors) are substantially worried in the matter of exports,” he told Bernama.

A similar downward trend swept the region which saw Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 93.44 points to 12,969.34, China’s Shanghai Composite Index easing 3.73 points to 1,959.51 and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite declining 10.59 points to 4,418.87.

Back home, the Finance Index dropped 184.22 points to 16,320.71 but the Industrial Index added 2.57 points to 2,916.95 and the Plantation Index rose 71.04 points to 8,231.43.

The FBM Emas Index fell 66.62 points to 11,965.62, FBMT100 Index erased 64.7 points to 11,750.95, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 74.04 points to 13,624.86 and the FBM Ace Index trimmed 30.1 points to 4,619.34.

Losers trounced advancers by 531 to 258, with 289 counters unchanged, 514 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Total volume slipped to 1.599 billion shares worth RM2.851 billion from 1.67 billion shares valued at RM2.18 billion yesterday.

Among actives, Flonic Hi-Tech inched up half-a-sen to 8.5 sen but MAS was flat at 29.5 sen while Luster Industries slipped 2.5 sen to 16.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Axiata Group added one sen to RM6.61 but Maybank lost 14 sen to RM10.00, CIMB fell eight sen to RM8.05 and Petronas Chemicals eased four sen to RM6.54.

Sime Darby, which appointed former Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman as its new Chairman and Director earlier today, saw its shares rise three sen to RM9.43.

Volume on the Main Market improved to 1.348 billion units worth RM2.809 billion from 1.33 billion units valued at RM2.13 billion yesterday.

Turnover on the ACE market fell to 204.172 million shares worth RM35.454 million from yesterday’s 274.81 million shares valued at RM46.83 million.

Warrants decreased to 44.11 million shares worth RM6.13 million from 56.04 million shares valued at RM7.43 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 47.782 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 345.31 million, construction 57.613 million, trade and services 392.882 million, technology 64.403 million, infrastructure 23.865 million, SPAC 42.004 million, finance 103.175 million, hotels 476,500, properties 194.136 million, plantations 54.757 million, mining 43,900, REITs 21.616 million and closed/fund 53,900. — Bernama