Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Market down, weighed by big cap plantations, Greece worries, high oil prices

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 22): Big cap PLANTATION [] stocks weighed on the 30-stock FBM KLCI in the morning session on Wednesday, with PPB emerging as the top loser.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.46 points to 1,561.32. Turnover was 1.15 billion shares valued at RM744.330 million, reflecting the lower quality of trading with interest seen in lower liners and penny stocks. There were 283 gainers, 450 losers and 287 stocks unchanged.

The broader market was cautious as investors were still nervous about Greece’s ability to stick to the austerity plan. High crude oil prices also posed another major concern, with Brent crude for April at US$121.21 a barrel and US crude for April at US$105.80 a barrel.

Regional markets were mostly higher with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.77% to 9,536.34, Shanghai’s Composite Index added 0.45% to 2,392.16, Taiwan’s Taiex 0.92% to 7,994.53, South Korea’s Kospi 0.04% to 2,025.01. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to 21,460.90 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index 0.43% lower at 3,012.06.

Crude palm oil third-month futures rose RM13 to RM3,281 while the ringgit weakened to 3.0255 to the US dollar.

PPB fell 46 sen to RM17.18, dragging the 30-stock KLCI down 0.86 of a point , IOI Corp fell five sen to RM5.39, pushing the index down 0.76 of a points while KLK fell 30 sen to RM23.70, shaving 0.5 of a point of the index.

Batu Kawan shed 32 sen to RM18.60 and Genting Plantations 15 sen to RM9.25. However, Chin Tek rose 24 sen to RM8.90 and Far East added 12 sen to RM7.40.

PPB’s 18.3% associate Wilmar International Ltd -- the world's largest listed palm oil firm -- reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

BAT was the top loser, down 70 sen to RM52.30, Harrison 52 sen to RM3.18, Fima Corp 43 sen to RM6.32 and YTL Cement 26 sen to RM4.54. Loss-making Perwaja fell 14 sen to 77 sen.

Among the gainers were Dutch Lady, up 40 sen to RM25.80, RHB Cap 30 sen sen to RM7.85, Kris Assets 17 sen to RM6.60, F&N 16 sen to RM18, Hartalega 13 sen to RM7.89 and Genting 10 sen to RM10.84.



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