Banks and Genting closed higher on Wednesday but the gains were not enough to prevent the FBM KLCI from slipping into the red as investors took profit on Top Glove and Hartalega.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 8.10 points or 0.52% to 1,556.64. Turnover was robust with 19.18 billion shares done valued RM7.94bil. Decliners beat advancers about three to one or 907 losers to 315 gainers and 295 counters were unchanged.
Public Bank rallied 48 sen to RM17.40 and added 2.87 points to the KLCI while Maybank added 16 sen to RM7.65 and boosted the index by 2.77 points, CIMB 10 sen higher at RM3.54 and Hong Leong Bank eight sen to RM15.
Bank Negara will announce the second quarter GDP data on Friday but most importantly, the market is awaiting clarity on the outlook for the economy for the second half.
A Bloomberg survey showed a 10.7% contraction in 2Q GDP due to the movement control order which came into effect on March 18 after growing by just 0.7% in 1Q.
However, glove makers came under some profit taking after their dizzying price surge in recent months.
Top Glove fell RM2.80 to RM214.50 and erased 11.67 points from the KLCI. Hartalega lost RM2.18 to RM16.12 and wiped out another 11.52 points.
Supermax fell RM2.78 to RM18.88, Kossan RM2.50 to RM15.10, Rubberex RM1.12 to RM4.77 and Comfort 89 sen to RM4.03.
US light crude oil and Brent rebounded 61 cents each to US$42.22 and US$45.11. But the rebound was not enough to power the oil and gas stocks higher.
Petronas Chemicals fell five sen to RM5.90, Petronas Dagangan two sen to RM20.70 but Petronas Gas gained two sen to RM16.02. Dialog shed one sen to RM3.64.
Sapura Energy was the most active with 1.30 billion shares done, slipping one sen to 13.5 sen.
Genting rose 25 sen to RM3.97 and GentingM 19 sen to RM2.45, Tenaga 14 sen to RM11.14 while Sime Darby rose three sen to RM2.15.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM34 to RM2,676 per tonne. KL Kepong added four sen to RM22.66 but Sime Plantation lost two sen to RM5.09, IOI Corp unchanged at RM4.42 while PPB Group lost 14 sen to RM18.92.
Tech and semicon related stocks were among the top gainers with MPI up RM1.24 to RM14.50, Vitrox 42 sen to RM11.80, Greatec 30 sen to RM6.39 and Mi 24 sen to RM4.13.
As for telcos, Maxis and Axiata gained three sen each to RM5.12 and RM3.15, Dgi lost three sen to RM4.11 and Telekom five sen to RM3.77.
The ringgit was firmer against the US dollar, up 0.03% to 4.1927.
Spot gold rebounded US$23.39 ot 1.22% to US$1,935.28 per ounce.
On the external front, Reuters reported Chinese shares fell for a second straight session after global market sentiment soured on the prospect of a swift US stimulus boost and as domestic data showed softer growth in bank lending.
The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.6% at 3,319.27. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.7%.
However, Hong Kong shares touched a near three-week high on Wednesday, led by a rebound in heavyweight financial stocks, and as a regional sell-off in equities ran out of steam towards the end of the trading session.
The Hang Seng index closed up 1.4% at 25,244.02, near its highest level since July 23 hit earlier in the session. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.6%.
Singapore’s STI rose 0.62%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.41% and South Korea’s Kospi 0.57% higher.
Source: The Star, 12 August