Kuala Lumpur shares close lower on caution ahead of Aug CPI data - UPDATE 19/9/2006
- Share prices closed lower as growing investor
caution put more pressure on stocks in afternoon trade ahead of the release
of Malaysia's August consumer price data and the US Federal Reserve's
monetary policy meeting tomorrow, dealers said.
They added that investor sentiment was also dampened by sharp falls seen
in some lower-liners.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was down 2.73 points or 0.28 pct
at 962.82, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index slipped 16.62
points or 0.27 pct to 6,232.33.
The second board index shed 0.62 points or 0.74 pct to 83.46.
Trading volume was 519.01 mln shares valued at 906.70 mln rgt.
Losers outnumbered gainers 463 to 229, with 332 stocks unchanged and 295
counters untraded.
Stephen Soo, senior technical analyst at TA Securities, said sentiment
remained weak as investors awaited the release tomorrow of Malaysi's August
consumer price data and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate policy in this
week's meeting.
Lower-liners were hardest hit by selling pressure amid market talk that a
US hedge fund is currently under investigation by regulators after its
investment in some Malaysian stocks incurred huge losses.
"I think the benchmark index will take a while to recover; the upside is
likely to be capped at 970 points and support level is seen at 950," Soo
said.
"Sentiment is improving but only on certain blue chips and
government-linked companies (GLCs)," said Cheah King Yoong, acting head of
research at SJ Securities.
He said investors are expecting the GLCs to deliver tangible benefits to
their shareholders and stakeholders next year as outlined by the government
earlier.
The analyst said his house still holds on to its year-end target for the
KLCI of 960 points, given the economy is likely to grow slower in the fourth
quarter.
Among key blue chips, Tenaga was higher on positive earnings outlook,
rising 0.10 rgt or 1.04 pct to 9.70. Maybank was down 0.10 rgt at 11.20 and
Telekom Malaysia was down 0.05 rgt at 9.05.
Casino operator Genting was down 0.50 rgt or 2.04 pct at 24.00 and BAT
(Malaysia) lost 0.50 rgt or 1.18 pct to 41.75.
Speculative lower-liners Iris Corp fell 0.05 rgt or 19.23 pct to 0.21 and
Mobif dropped 0.10 rgt or 16.26 pct to 0.515.
National car maker Proton was down 0.02 rgt at 4.98 and Edaran Otomobil
Nasional Bhd was up 0.01 rgt at 1.96, following the release of data from an
industry body showing Malaysia's car sales in August fell 5.68 pct
year-on-year to 35,297 vehicles.
In the first eight months, car sales fell 5.85 pct to 254,980 vehicles
from 270,830 units a year earlier, Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA)
said in a statement.
UMW, a major shareholder of compact car maker Perodua, was up 0.10 rgt or
1.39 pct at 7.30 while MBM Resources, also a shareholder of Perodua, lost 0.
04 rgt or 1.42 pct to 2.78.
DRB-Hicom was lower after its early gains were wiped out by profit-taking
in the afternoon. It closed down 0.01 rgt at 1.44.
The company said yesterday it has signed a memorandum of agreement to
form an equity tie-up with General Motors (GM) to distribute GM vehicles in
Malaysia.

For tomorrow...technical rebound may occur...

For CPO market may slope down to 1500...

Regard

Anthony Wong