KLCI enters third day of profit-taking as Wall St outperforms

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell to either side of the 1,600-point line in early trade as profit-taking activity continued amid a subdued post-Christmas trading mood.

At 9.05am, the index was down 2.71 points to 1,600.84.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights seen on a slide were Nestle down 80 sen to RM146.10, KL Kepong falling 40 sen to RM24.40, Hong Leong Financial Group dropping 26 sen to RM16.84, PPB losing 20 sen to RM19.50, Petronas Dagangan shaving 14 sen to RM22.92 and Petronas Gas slipping 10 sen to RM17.46.

KLCI-linked stocks seen adding weight were MISC up nine sen to RM8.49, Hong Leong Bank gaining six sen to RM17.60 and Petronas Chemicals adding four sen to RM7.42

Top actives included Alam Maritim up 0.5 sen to 14 sen, Bina Puri down 0.5 sen to 8.5 sen and TDM rising one sen to 33 sen.

The subdued performance on the domestic market was at odds with the outperformance on Wall Street overnight as each of the major US indices was spurred on to fresh record highs.

Observers say easing anxieties over the US trade deal with China coupled with healthy consumer sentiment helped to push the year-end “Santa Claus rally” beyond expectations.

In early Friday trading in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was marginally negative while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3%. Australia’s ASX200 was 0.2% higher.

Source: TheStar