KLCI dips to below 1,580-level, blue chips drag

KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): The FBM KLCI closed below the 1,580-point level on Wednesday, reversing its gains earlier in the morning session, weighed by losses including Genting, Tenaga, CIMB, KLK and Petronas Dagangan.

The index fell 2.93 points to 1,579.35.

Market breadth was weak with 405 losers, 315 gainers and 346 counters trading unchanged. Volume was 1.47 billion shares valued at RM1.53 billion.

Meanwhile, global shares rose on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting, due mainly to signs of good demand for euro zone sovereign debt before a German bond sale, and some strong corporate earnings, according to Reuters.

Markets could take their cues from several planned public speeches by European Central Bank officials, which will be scrutinised for any signs it would consider more liquidity operations if the euro zone's problems worsened, it said.

At the regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.98% to 9,561.01, Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.86% to 7,563.18, and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.75% to 2,406.81 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.20% to 2,980.19.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.15 % to 20,646.29 and South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.07% to 1,961.98.

Among the decliners on Bursa Malaysia, BAT fell 28 sen to RM55.12, KLK and TH PLANTATION []s lost 16 sen each to RM23.82 and RM2.65, CSL down 15 sen to RM1.48, UMS 14 sen to RM1.66, Yeo Hiap Seng 13 sen to RM2.88, Toyo Ink, Tanjung Offshore and MMC Corp down 12 sen each to RM1.36, 78 sen and RM2.62 respectively, while Quality Concrete lost 11 sen to RM1.24.

Utopia was the most actively traded counter with 186.1 million shares done. The stock added one sen to 9.5 sen.

Other actives included Ariantec, Ramunia, CSL, Metronic, Astral Supreme, HWGB and JCY.

Meanwhile, the gainers included Panasonic, UMWE, The Store, NSOP, SPB, Batu Kawan, Cepco, TDM and Scientex.



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KL shares mixed in early trade

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were mixed in early trading session Tuesday on lack of appetite among investors for riskier assets, dealers said.

At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,559.64, down 0.93 of a point, after opening 2.41 points higher at 1,562.98.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said the local bourse may continue to climb slowly and steadily amid positive foreign news flows.

"The benchmark FBM KLCI will probably advance towards the immediate resistance target of 1,580 points ahead," it said in a statement today. Wall Street was closed yesterday for a but most European stock markets rose overnight.

Essentially, the research firm said investors remained confident that the eurozone finance ministers would be able to wrap up talks for Greece to meet certain conditions in exchange for international bailout funds.

The Finance Index rose 1.52 points to 13,917.06 but the Plantation Index erased 69.58 points to 8,751.17 and the Industrial Index rose 0.91 of a point to 2,911.03

The FBM Emas Index lost 4.37 points to 10,837.88, the FBM Mid 70 Index earned 2.021 points to 12,339.79 and the FBM Ace Index gained 19.64 points to 4,744.41.

Gainers outpaced losers 147 to 105 while 170 counters were unchanged, 1,062 untraded and 19 others were suspended with turnover at 173.023 million shares worth RM57.811 million.

Among actives, United Plantation added 24 sen to RM23.00, Panasonic Manufacturing earned 18 sen to RM20.60 while Hartalega and Quality Concrete gained 14 sen each to RM8.10 and RM1.44, respectively.

Heavyweights, Maybank and Sime Darby were unchanged at RM8.61 and RM9.63, respectively, Petronas Chemicals earned one sen to RM6.93 and CIMB erased one sen to RM7.29. -- Bernama



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Quality Concrete 3Q net profit plunges to RM1.79m

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): QUALITY CONCRETE HOLDINGS BHD [] net profit for the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2011 plunged to RM1.79 million from RM11.83 million a year earlier, due mainly to higher operating cost and lesser profit reported in the HDPE pipes and timber products divisions.

The company said on Thursday that revenue for the quarter rose 39.4% to RM49.82 million year-on-year to RM35.74 million.

Earnings per share for the quarter was 3.09 sen compared to 19.64 sen in 2010, while net assets per share was RM2.69.

For the nine months ended Oct 31, Quality Concrete’s net profit fell to RM3.88 million from RM13.11 million, despite posting an increase in revenue to RM149.54 million from RM107.86 million.

Reviewing its performance, the company said the increase in revenue was from the property and CONSTRUCTION [] division where all the projects undertaken have started commencing works.

However, the company said its overall profit was pulled down by higher operating cost and also lesser profit reported in the HDPE pipes and timber products divisions.

It also said most of the profit achieved in the last financial year included a gain from disposal of a subsidiary company.

On its prospects, Quality Concrete said it would continue to work towards enhancing its performance and financial position in the final quarter of the year.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the management is confident that the group will be able to achieve it,” it said.



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Quality Concrete posts smaller Q3 profit

Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd posted a smaller pre-tax profit of RM2.38 million for the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2011 against RM12.38 million recorded in the same period last year.

"However, revenue rose to RM49.82 million, during the period under review, from RM35.72 million registered previously," it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

The company said the higher revenue was mainly contributed by the group's property and construction divisions. -- Bernama



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KLCI pares down losses at mid-day on bargain hunting

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): The FBM KLCI pared down some of its losses at the mid-day break on Tuesday, Nov 15 as investors nibbled on select blue chip stocks.

Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly remained in the red with investors staying on the sidelines as jittery European credit markets hurt sentiment.

The 30-stock FBM KLCI trimmed its losses to just 0.37 of a point to 1,478.50 at 12.30pm. The index had earlier fallen to its intra-morning low of 1,473.71.

Losers led gainers by 389 to 306, while 237 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.8 billion shares valued at RM737.82 million.

The ringgit weakened 0.33% to 3.1460 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil futures for the third month delivery gained RM2 per tonne to RM3,196, crude oil added three cents per barrel to US$98.17 while gold fell US$5.15 an ounce to US$1,775.27.

At the regional markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.09% to 19,295.53, South Korea’s Kospi down 0.64% to 1,890.62, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.53% to 8,557.92, Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.50% to 7,488.09, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 0.20% to 2,824.44 while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.05% to 2,527.50.

On Bursa Malaysia, SHL was the top loser and fell 23 sen to RM1.11; TSH Resources lost 17 sen to RM3.63, Nilai 15 sen to RM1.40, Degem and SYF Resources fell 14.5 sen each to 90.5 sen and 77.5 sen, Carlsberg 13 sen to RM6.96, Subur Tiasa 11 sen to RM2.21 while Batu Kawan was down 10 sen to RM15.90.

Among the gainers, DiGi added 88 sen to RM35.40, Proton 38 sen to RM3.08, Amway 20 sen to RM9, Quality Concrete and Kulim 16 sen each to RM1.43 and RM3.63, while LPI Capital and Dutch Lady rose 10 sen each to RM12.94 and RM21.60.

Tiger Synergy was the most actively traded counter with 171.8 million shares done. The stock rose 1.5 sen to 15 sen.

Other actives included DPS Resources, DBE Gurney, Malton, PDZ, Karambunai, Scan Associates and Sinotop.



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