Kuala Lumpur shares close mixed; banks, plantations support key index - UPDATE 3/11/2006
- Share prices closed mixed, with the key index
firmer on continued interest in selected blue chips in the banking and
plantations sectors, dealers said.
They said profit-taking activity kept the market in check after the main
index hit the 1,000 level briefly during the day.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed up 2.77 points or 0.28 pct at 998.
02, after hitting a high of 1,000.06.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index gained 28.57 points to 6452.
25, while the second board index lost 0.23 point to 88.32
Losers outnumbered gainers 436 to 385, with 296 stocks unchanged and 207
counters untraded.
Trading volume was 792.43 mln shares valued at 1.11 bln rgt.
''As expected the market experienced resistance at the thousand-point
level,'' said N.Kaladher of TA Securities.
''In the near term, we remain positive due to various (government)
announcements to boost the economy ahead of the UMNO general assembly,
starting from November 13,'' he added.
UMNO refers to Malaysia's ruling party, the United Malays National
Organisation.
After the UMNO assembly the market may run out of catalysts and will
depend on the performance of the US market for leads, Kaladher said.
Maybank and Public Bank helped support the main index, with support also
coming from plantation stocks IOI Corp and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, dealers said.
Maybank was up 0.20 rgt or 1.8 pct at 11.30 and Public Bank gained 0.15
rgt or 2.19 pct to 7.00.
Bumiputera Commerce was down 0.05 rgt at 6.95 as investors opted to lock
in profits.
IOI Corp and Kuala Lumpur Kepong were both higher on follow-through
interest as investors remain bullish that rising crude palm oil prices will
boost the plantation companies' earnings.
IOI Corp was up 0.40 rgt or 2.26 pct at 18.10 while Kuala Lumpur Kepong
gained 0.50 rgt or 4.17 pct to 12.50.
Some construction and property counters benefited ahead of unveiling of
proposals for the South Johor Economic Region tomorrow.
IJM was up 0.05 rgt to 6.15, while property counter Mah Sing, which has a
significant presence in South Johor, was up 0.02 rgt at 2.22.
Among heavyweights, Tenaga was flat at 10.10 while Telekom Malaysia was
down 0.05 rgt to 8.90.
Elsewhere, Sime Engineering Services was higher on a report that it is
bidding for contracts worth up to four bln rgt, most of them in the Middle
East. The stock gained 0.02 rgt to 1.55.
MTD Capital gained 0.05 rgt or 2.48 pct to 2.07 following a media report
that it will likely sign a toll road project agreement in Indonesia by the
end of this month.
The three-month interbank rates were at 3.70/75, while the overnight
rates stood at 3.48/51.

For next week...market toward 1000 points...

For CPO market...down to 1600 levels...

Regard

Anthony Wong