KL Kepong under pressure as investors stay cautious

KUALA LUMPUR: KL Kepong fell the most in early Friday trade on continued selling pressure on the plantation counter while investors stayed cautious in the absence of strong rerating catalysts for the market.

At 9.12am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.58 points or 0.1% to 1,594.70. Turnover was 202.43 million shares valued at RM79.43mil. There were 105 gainers, 95 losers and 205 counters unchanged.

Asia stocks opened with modest gains on reduced volumes after a lacklustre session for US shares, Bloomberg reported. Treasuries remained on course for a first week of gains since August.

Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.1%.

At Bursa, KL Kepong fell 66 sen to RM22.74 with 303,800 shares done. The company was reported to have stated that it would cooperate with Indonesian authorities in the investigation into forest fires on land owned by a subsidiary, P.T. Adei Plantation and Industry.

KESM fell 20 sen to RM7.05 following its weaker results.

Petronas Dagangan lost 16 sen to RM23.30 and Petronas Chemicals five sen to RM7.65.

BAT fell 10 sen to RM19.90, Edgenta eight sen to RM3.29 and Magni-Tech five sen to RM6.35.

Press Metal, which was recently downgraded by an international rating agency, lost five sen to RM4.88.

G3-WA jumped 17 sen to RM2.71 and G3 added eight sen to RM2.92.

KLCC added 12 sen to RM8.17, Tenaga 10 sen to RM13.72, Hong Leong Bank six sen to RM16.52 while RHB Bank was up four sen to RM5.64.

Source: TheStar