Banks, Tenaga lead KLCI lower, Asian markets down

KUALA LUMPUR: Growing uncertainties about the progress of US-China trade talks sent key Asian markets into the red early Thursday while at Bursa, banks and Tenaga Nasional weighed on the FBM KLCI.

At 9.09am, the KLCI was down 8.12 points or 0.51% to 1,593.02. Turnover was 220.14 million shares valued at RM112.87mil. There were 144 gainers, 159 losers and 218 counters unchanged.

Global shares slid as a fresh row between Washington and Beijing over US bills on Hong Kong could complicate their trade negotiation and delay a “phase one” deal that investors had initially hoped to be inked by now, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.16% while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.25%.

US S&P500 futures dropped 0.2% in early Asian trade, a day after MSCI’s broadest gauge of world stocks fell 0.4%, the biggest fall since early October.

At Bursa, Public Bank fell 20 sen to RM19.72, CIMB eight sen to RM5.30 and RHB Bank six sen to RM5.74.

Nestle fell the most, down RM1.10 to RM144.90, Amway 16 sen to RM5.71, and Tenaga six sen to RM13.60.

With crude palm oil prices at two year highs, KL Kepong rose the most, up 38 sen to RM23.98 with 200 shares done, BLD Plantations 29 sen to RM5.73, SOP and TSH six sen each to RM2.75 and RM1.19. However, Sime Plantations fell seven sen to RM5.07.

MPI lost 16 sen to RM10.46 but KESM rose 23 sen to RM8.62 as analysts upgraded the stock, Dufu advanced seven sen to RM3.04.

MY EG rose five sen to RM1.22 with 15.69 million shares done.

Source: TheStar