KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended lower on Monday, as losses in Tenaga Nasional, IHH Healthcare and Sime Darby Plantation
offset gains in telcos amid a weak market sentiment.
At 5pm, the benchmark index tumbled 16.81 points, or 1.06% to 1,572.24. The index opened 8.54 points lower at 1,580.51 this morning.
Market breadth was negative as losers hammered gainers on a ratio of 784-to-309 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 6.04 billion shares worth RM2.79bil.
KLCI-component stocks were overwhelmingly in the negative, with 24 decliners, five gainers and one closed unchanged.
Dealers said the performance of the local bourse was in line with its regional peers amid the lack of follow-through buying interest. They added that the investors were spooked after the US Federal Reserve’s surprise hawkish stance last week.
Digi jumped 14 sen to RM4.32, Maxis gained eight sen to RM4.52 while Axiata fell 11 sen to RM3.98.
Axiata Group Bhd, Telenor Asia Pte Ltd and Digi.com Bhd have signed agreements for the merger of Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi, referred to as MergeCo.
Petronas Gas added 14 sen to RM15.76, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose six sen to RM21.50 and IOI Corp climbed one sen to RM3.88.
Tenaga fell 44 sen to RM10, Sime Darby Plantations fell 25 sen to RM4.15, IHH Healthcare lost 10 sen to RM5.76.
Maybank and Public Bank fell two sen each to RM8.18 and RM4.18 respectively. RHB Bank and CIMB declined one sen each to RM5.39 and RM4.59 respectively.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher on Monday. Brent was last traded at US$73.65 per barrel, up 14 cents while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 17 cents to US$71.81 a barrel.
Most stock markets in the region fell with MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.07%.
The Nikkei 225 lost 3.29% in its biggest percentage fall since Feb. 26, to close at 28,010.93.
South Korea’s Kospi ended down 27.14 points, or 0.83%, at 3,240.79.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 312.27 points, or 1.08%, at 28,489.00.
China’s CSI300 index was down 0.2% at 5,090.39, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended flat at 3,529.18.
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