Wednesday, February 23, 2011

CPO falls to lowest since December, plantations among major losers

KUALA LUMPUR: PLANTATION []s were among the major losers in the morning trade on Wednesday, Feb 23 as crude palm oil (CPO) futures fell to a low of RM3,503, the lowest since Dec 20 last year.

The FBM KLCI clawed back to pare down its losses to just slightly more than four points as key regional markets fluctuated after the heavy selldown over the past two days.

Investor sentiment in the region has been predominantly influenced by the mounting violence in Libya and rising crude oil prices that could potentially dampen economic growth.

At12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.29% or 4.45 points to 1,509.18, weighed by key blue chips including banking and index-linked plantation stocks. The index hit an intra-morning low of 1,502.01. Losers led gainers by 425 to 258, while 273 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 769.91 million valued at RM849.19 million.

The ringgit was flat at 3.0490 against the US dollar; crude oil added 24 cents per barrel to US$95.66 while gold shed 15 cents per troy ounce to US$1,398.98.

CPO futures for the third month delivery fell RM147 per tonne to RM3,522. It had earlier fallen to RM3,503, the lowest since Dec 20 last year.

Nikkei 225 -0.61% 10,599.81 Hang Seng Index -0.27% 22,927.95 Taiwan's Taiex -1% 8,586.67 Singapore's STI -0.31% 3,009.61 Shanghai Composite Index +0.25% 2,862.54 Korea's Kospi +0.06% 1,971.10 ''

On Bursa Malaysia,'' KLK fell 38 sen to RM21.10, Batu Kawan 24 sen to RM15.28, Genting Plantations five sen to RM7.92 while Sime Darby and PPB lost four sen each to RM9.15 and RM16.70.

Among banks, Public Bank fell six sen to RM13.02 while CIMB and Maybank shed two sen each to RM8.16 and RM8.72.

Shell fell 20 sen to RM10.20, Genting 18 sen to RM10.22, Jaya Tiasa 16 sen to RM4.87, IJM Corp 15 sen to RM6.38, LPI Capital 14 sen to RM13.74, GAB 12 sen to RM9.46 and Cepco fell 11 sen to RM2.04.

Gainers included Kulim, BAT, Nakamichi, Lion Forest Industries, F&N, Asia File, MTD Capital and Chin Teck.

Tanco was the most actively traded counter with 36.9 million shares done. The stock added 4.5 sen to 31 sen. Other actives included HWGB, SAAG, Karambunai, Olympia and MUI Industries.

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