KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended higher, amid an overall cautious market sentiment, on bargain-hunting activities, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 12.87 points or 0.85 per cent to the day’s high of 1,526.52 from Friday’s close of 1,513.65. The benchmark index had opened 3.49 points higher at 1,517.14 and reached an intraday low of 1,514.08. In the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 637 to 288, while 428 counters were unchanged, 995 untraded and nine suspended. Turnover went up to 2.37 billion units valued at RM2.03 billion from Friday’s 2.25 billion units valued at RM2.13 billion. The market was closed on March 31 and April 1 for the Hari Raya public holidays.
It's not a good news for the energy shares as they led losses after oil prices plunged.
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| Not looking good for oil |
After OPEC decides against the cut, Brent crude oil plunged as much as $6.50 a barrel on Thursday, and U.S. crude fell by nearly as much, posting the steepest one-day falls since 2011.
Benchmark Brent futures settled at $72.58 a barrel, down $5.17, after hitting a four-year low of $71.25 earlier in the session. The contract was on track for its biggest monthly fall since 2008.
U.S. crude was last down $4.64 at $69.05 a barrel.
This is definitely not a good news for oil producing countries like Russia and even Malaysia.
PRICE WAR?
It is going to be a price war. The US crude may even slide to below $65 a barrel in coming weeks and this could be a factor against the economy of the Northern American shale oil production.
While many were saying the oil price may have hit a bottom, some analysts have a differing point of view.
If it's going into price war, any bottom may just be difficult to predict.
Expect the O&G sector in Malaysia to be affected when the trade starts today.
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