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Cautious sentiment prevails on Bursa, Asian markets

KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets including Bursa Malaysia were treading water early Monday as investor sentiment remained cautious on the last trading day of the third quarter.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI was up 1.17 points or 0.07% to 1,585.31. Turnover was 147.80 million shares valued at RM46.37mil. There were 112 gainers, 145 losers and 180 counters unchanged.

Bloomberg reported stocks in Asia fell as investors weighed the latest signs of trade tensions and China’s economy continued to show weakness in manufacturing.

Japanese equities led losses, while shares in South Korea posted a modest retreat and Chinese equity futures slipped.

Japan’s Topix index retreated 0.6%, South Korea’s Kospi index slid 0.3%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was flat. FTSE China A50 futures declined 0.7%.

At Bursa, market sentiment remained cautious especially as foreign funds continued to reduce their shareholdings. Foreign funds were net sellers last Friday at RM137.30mil and for the week, it totaled RM150.9mil.

BAT rose 28 sen to RM19.12, Gamuda 10 sen to RM3.66, MISC nine sen to RM7.82, Spritzer eight sen to RM2.29 while RHB Bank and Hai-O added four sen each to RM5.64 and RM2.30 and Kenanga edged up 3.5 sen to 52 sen.

UMW lost nine sen to RM4.91 with just 100 shares done. Also down nine sen was PRG to RM1.11, MBL and Telekom lost five sen each to RM1.20 and RM3.56, Pentamaster and ASTRO four sen each to RM4.45 and RM1.47.

Oil prices edged higher, rebounding from a two-week low in the previous session, although gains were checked by concerns about the outlook for the global economy, Reuters reported.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.3% to US$56.05 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to US$62.12 a barrel.

Source: TheStar