Wednesday, August 17, 2011

KLCI closes higher but caution limits gains

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed higher on Wednesday, Aug 17 but gains were limited as the overall regional and global investor sentiment remained cautious, with concerns of a deepening global economic malaise keeping investors on the sidelines.

World stocks and the euro slipped on Wednesday as investors grew concerned that French and German plans for closer fiscal integration may be insufficient to stop the regional debt crisis from spreading further, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the number of Britons claiming jobless benefits saw its biggest jump in over 2 years in July and employment growth slowed, with the number of people claiming jobless benefit rising by 37,100 last month, it said.

The FBM KLCI rose 4.83 points to 1,503.07. Gainers led losers by 453 to 255, while 309 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 892.81 million shares valued at RM1.6 billion.

At the regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.55% to 9,057.26, Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.73% to 7,741.76, the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.26% to 2,601.26 and Singapore's Straits Times Index slipped 0.15% to 2.828.53.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.38% to 29,281.4 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.68% to 1,892.67.

Meanwhile, commenting on the Franco-German summit, strategists at The Royal Bank of Scotland in a note Aug 17 said there remains an ongoing tension between investors who want a quick fix and the policymakers who are working on the building blocks for the future.

They said that everyone could recognise that the building blocks were important but stronger leadership with a clearer roadmap was sorely missing in this direction.

'Net/net, there is hope that the end-game is a Eurobond that can be put on the table, but the political elite still need to get ahead of the crisis by making this argument to a sceptical public.

'This iteration process will take time and all this suggests that additional market pressure lies ahead,' they said.

On Bursa Malaysia, Esso surged 61 sen to RM4.95 on a news report that Philippines' San Miguel would buy ExxonMobil's 65% stake in the refining company.

Other gainers included PPB that added 38 sen to RM17.18, Sindora up 28 sen to RM2.93, Fima Corp 27 sen to RM6, KLK 24 sen to RM21.34, Allianz 17 sen to RM4.87 while Tradewinds and Batu Kawan added 16 sen each to RM8.91 and RM16.02.

Among the decliners, BAT fell 12 sen to RM44, Malayan Flour Mills 10 sen to RM7.59, Sunchirin, Jaya Tiasa, Kwantas and Wah Seong fell eight sen each to RM1.50, RM5.92, RM1.99 and RM2.13 respectively, while Mintye, JT International, Milux and Media Prima fell seven sen each to RM1.81, RM6.83, RM1.20 and RM2.86 respectively.

The actives included DVM, Axiata, Petronas Chemicals, Eduspec, Dialog, AirAsia and Sanichi.

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