KL shares ease, caught in global dragnet of crude oil slide

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Bursa Malaysia finished on an easier note today in cautious trading, amid the slump in global crude oil prices, dealers said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 20.04 points, or 1.15 per cent, dragged down by losses in selected blue-chips, to close at 1,716.58, but off the day’s low of 1,708.78.

Among the FBM KLCI components, Maybank led the losers, dipping 20 sen to RM8.80, while Petronas Chemicals lost 18 sen to RM5.01. Genting Bhd shed 30 sen to RM8.43, CIMB Group edged down 12 sen to RM5.34, and Public Bank fell 22 sen to RM17.60.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 640 to 180, with 245 counters unchanged, 674 untraded and nine others suspended.

Dealers said the bearish mood was in tandem with most regional peers amid the slump in global crude oil prices.

Crude oil prices extended the decline today as glut fears deepened. US crude crashed to below US$50 a barrel, while benchmark Brent tumbled to under US$53.

On regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 3.02 per cent to 16,883.19, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index lost 1.74 per cent to 1,882.45, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.99 per cent to 23,485.41.

On the local scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index dipped 148.98 points to 11,772.66, the FBMT100 Index 143.96 points to 11,521.30 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 125.21 points to 12,271.78.

The FBM 70 depreciated 196.39 points to 12,775.66, the FBM Ace 66.75 points to 5,716.42, the Finance Index 275.45 points to 15,198.57, the Industrial Index 14.63 points to 3,132.85 and the Plantation Index 39.63 points to 7,712.17.

Total volume rose to 1.64 billion units worth RM1.86 billion from 1.46 billion units worth RM1.41 billion yesterday.

Among actively traded stocks, Iris Corp and Hubline were flat at 32.5 sen and 4.0 sen respectively. Minetech added 1.5 sen to 12.5 sen while Iris Corp-warrant and Kronologi Asia gained 0.5 sen each to 23.5 sen and 23 sen respectively.

Main Market volume contracted to 1.05 billion shares worth RM1.70 billion from yesterday’s 1.06 billion shares worth RM1.28 billion.

Turnover on the ACE Market expanded to 408.96 million shares valued at RM93.06 million against 248.49 million shares valued at RM57.3 million previously.

Warrants increased to 176.89 million units worth RM59.79 million from 152.49 million units worth RM68.53 million yesterday.

Consumer products accounted for 64.45 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products 196.19 million, construction 39.67 million, trade and services 490.27 million, technology 19.90 million, infrastructure 14.35 million, SPAC 63.18 million, finance 60.06 million, hotels 8.24 million, properties 70.70 million, plantations 15.01 million, mining 100,000, REITs 6.83 million, and closed/fund 45,800. — Bernama