Kuala Lumpur shares close lower in listless trade ahead of holidays - UPDATE 18/10/2006
- Share prices closed slightly lower in listless
trade with volumes remaining thin, as investors continue to stay on the
sidelines ahead of the long festive holidays from this weekend, dealers said.
They said the index is expected to move in a tight range but sentiment is
likely to improve next month following the holidays.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was down 1.34 points or 0.14 pct
at 975.89.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index was down 11.93 points or 0.19
pct at 6,313.26 while the second board index was down 0.02 points at 84.51.
Losers outnumbered gainers 356 to 322, with 356 stocks unchanged and 286
untraded.
Trading volume was 567.69 mln shares valued at 726.04 mln rgt.
"We expect the market to stabilize after next week's festive holidays,"
said a trader from a Malaysian brokerage, noting that October is traditionary
a "weak month" for the KLCI.
"As investors prepared for the upcoming festive season, local funds are
liquidating some investments for the expected redemptions of funds," he said.
Meanwhile, OSK Securities head of research Kenny Yee said he expects the
benchmark KLCI to stay around its current level for the rest of the year.
"Bright spots in the market include (continued) corporate earnings growth
and ongoing merger and acquisition activities," the analyst said.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank was down 0.10 rgt or 0.88 pct at 11.20,
while energy firm Tenaga was up 0.05 rgt or 0.51 pct at 9.95 and Telekom
Malaysia was steady at 9.10.
As for gaming groups, Genting was sharply lower on profit-taking, down 1.
00 rgt or 3.81 pct at 25.25 and Tanjong was down 0.10 rgt at 12.20.
Media company Nanyang Press was higher on news that rival Sin Chew
Media's major shareholder is offering to acquire a 21 pct stake in the
company at 4.20 rgt per share. The stock was up 0.12 rgt or 3.00 pct at 3.12,
while Sin Chew was down 0.06 rgt or 2.26 pct at 2.60.
Palm oil producer IOI Corp was higher at 16.30 rgt, rising 0.20 rgt or 1.
24 pct, while IOI Property was sharply higher on speculation that parent IOI
Corp might take the company private. IOI Property was up 0.25 rgt or 3.14 pct
at 8.20.
CME Group surged on new contract hopes, rising 0.205 rgt or 38.66 pct to
0.735.
New listing Putrajaya Perdana finished the day unchanged at 1.80 rgt on
its main board debut, with earlier gains wiped out by late profit-taking.

For tomorow...market still very bullish...target 1000 points...

For CPO market...market to high...must correct to 1500 points...

Regard

Anthony Wong

et