MONEY MASTER

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): The FBM KLCI erased gains at the 11th hour to close 0.12 point lower at 1,740.93 points on late selling of index-linked Petronas Dagangan Bhd shares. At 5pm, Petronas Dagangan fell 46 sen to close at RM23.44 to become Bursa Malaysia's largest decliner. Earlier, the KLCI had risen to its intraday high at 1,744.79 points. At 5pm, Bursa Malaysia decliners led gainers at 440 against 327 respectively. A total of 2.8 billion shares worth RM1.98 billion changed hands. Analysts said Malaysian shares fell amid muted market reaction towards US policy news. Reuters reported that the dollar held steady versus a basket of currencies on Friday, as investors shifted their focus to US jobs data, with President Donald Trump's nomination of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Fed chair coming as no surprise. It was reported that in Washington, House Republicans finally unveiled long-delayed plans for deep tax cuts that Tru...

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): The FBM KLCI pared losses for a 2.88-point or 0.2% drop as investors bargain hunted for blue-chip stocks in the afternoon. The month of November is when Malaysia's July-September quarter corporate financial reporting starts in earnest. At 5pm today, the KLCI closed at 1,741.05 points after hitting its intraday low at 1,739.80 points. “Better third quarter results can provide a catalyst for the local market, which has lagged behind regional peers,” Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive Danny Wong Teck Meng told theedgemarkets.com. Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.91 billion shares valued at RM2.09 billion exchanged hands. Decliners led gainers by 474 to 329 respectively. Elsewhere, Asian share markets closed mixed as strong earnings prospects lifted Japan’s Nikkei 225 by 0.53%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.26% while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.4%. Reuters reported that Japan's Nikkei share average extended its strong rally to to...

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): The FBM KLCI closed down 3.99 points or 0.2% partly on Sime Darby Bhd share losses and as foreigners sold Malaysian equities. At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,743.93 points. Sime Darby dipped 11 sen to RM9.09 after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Sime Darby's issuer rating to Baa3 from Baa1. "The rating outlook is stable. The rating action concludes Moody's review of the company's rating for downgrade, which was initiated on Feb 3 2017, after Sime Darby announced a plan to create three standalone businesses, by retaining its motors, industrial, logistics and other businesses and listing its plantation and property divisions on Bursa Securities Malaysia," Moody's said in a statement yesterday. Today, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd analyst Muhammad Afif Zulkaplly told theedgemarkets.com that Sime Darby partly contributed to the outflow of foreign funds from Malaysian shares. “Locally, foreign outflow is most...