KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Thursday as renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia weighed on investor sentiment. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.97 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,677.64 from Wednesday's close of 1,683.61. The benchmark index opened 2.62 points lower at 1,680.99, and moved between 1,676.18 and 1,683.80 throughout the session. However, market breadth was slightly positive, with gainers leading losers 533 to 504, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,112 untraded, and 12 suspended. Turnover slipped to 2.64 billion units valued at RM2.19 billion from 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.18 billion on Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): The FBM KLCI fell 8.19 points or 0.5% , weighed down by blue-chip stocks like Maxis Bhd and Petronas Gas Bhd.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,780.71 points. Maxis shares fell 26 sen to RM5.62 while Petronas Gas dropped 22 sen to RM18.66.
Maxis and Petronas Gas were Bursa Malaysia's fourth and sixth-largest decliners respectively.
“The KLCI’s decline was driven by losses sustained by some of the blue-chip stocks, including Maxis," Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com.
Maxis shares fell after the mobile telecommunication network provider said it was placing out 300 million new shares to investors. Petronas Gas shares dropped as crude oil prices fell.
Reuters reported that oil markets held around seven-month lows on Tuesday as investors focused on persistent signs of rising supply that are undermining attempts by OPEC and other producers to support prices.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down three cents at US$44.17 a barrel. They declined 54 cents, or 1.2 percent in the previous session, to settle at US$44.20 per barrel, the lowest close since Nov. 14.
In Malaysia today, Bursa Malaysia saw 1.81 billion shares worth RM2.18 billion traded. Decliners beat gainers at 493 against 303 respectively.
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was among Bursa Malaysia's most-active stocks. Maybank shares rose one sen to RM9.64 with some 24 million units traded.
According to Inter-Pacific Securities remisier Sam Ng, Maybank drew interest from fund managers as investors might be reorganising their blue-chip portfolios.
“In my view, the stock (Maybank) is still undervalued, so the attractiveness is there,” Ng told theedgemarkets.com.
Source: The Edge
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