Kuala Lumpur shares close sharply lower -UPDATE 19/12/2006
- Share prices closed sharply lower in a
knee-jerk reaction to new capital control measures announced by Thailand,
which triggered a massive sell-off on the Thai stock market.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed down 21.24 points or 1.96
pct at 1,060.36, after falling as much as 35.53 points in the afternoon
session.
Losers outnumbered gainers 783 to 132, with 215 stocks unchanged and 188
counters untraded.
Dealers said the capital control news could not have come at a worst time
with the market already in consolidation mode towards the end of the year.
They said tha the market is expected to drift lower tomorrow as foreign
funds selldown their investments further before making any new positions.
RAM Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd's chief economist Yeah Kim Leng said the
contagion effect over the capital controls is expected to be short lived and
sees today's knee-jerk reaction as a bit excessive.
"Investors concerns will be relieved once more is known about the details
of the capital controls. As for Malaysia, investors need not have to worry
that such measures will be imposed here as Malaysia is not threatened by
speculative money flows," Yeah added.
Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.40 rgt to 10.80, Telekom
Malaysia eased 0.10 rgt to 9.55, and Malayan Banking shed 0.30 rgt to 11.50.
The New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP) and Utusan Melayu Bhd were lower,
failing to benefit from the news that a government minister is backing the
proposed merger of the two media giants. NSTP and Utusan fell 0.08 rgt to 2.
16 and 1.29 respectively.
MMC Corp fell 0.06 rgt to 3.78 on profit taking after gaining earlier on
news that the company will list its joint venture company with the Saudi
Binladin Group in Saudi Arabia sometime next year to finance the 30 bln usd
Jizan Economic City (JEC) project.
Rashid Hussain fell 0.01 rgt to 1.39 on profit taking after gaining
earlier on news that major shareholder, Utama Banking Group Bhd, said the
central bank has given the go-ahead for Utama to start negotiations with a
consortium of investors to be formed and led by Kuwait Finance House
(Malaysia) Bhd for the sale of Utama's stake in RHB.

For tomorrow...market continued to correction...

For CPO Market...correction toward 1800 levels...