KL Bourse Extends Downtrend

Published: 2009/03/13

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday, extending its downtrend on continued selling pressure in key heavyweights such as Sime Darby, Maybank and Public Bank, dealers said.

The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell 11.98 points to close at 838.39 after opening 0.8 point lower at 849.57 compared with Wednesday's close of 850.37.The dealers said the second board and Mesdaq counters also remained under profit-taking pressure after the recent gains amid the bearish sentiment due to the global economic slowdown.

Investors reduced their holdings quickly, especially in plantation stocks, after palm oil stockpiles dropped by 15 per cent in February while output and export declined by 11 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively."We are seeing some weakening in buying sentiment," a dealer said, adding that the estimated support and resistance level today will be at 800 and 850 respectively.

The bourse stayed above the 835-836 points support level but a technical analyst at bank-backed brokerage CIMB said the index was poised to retest its October 2008 level of 801.The Emas Index fell 82.47 points to 5,441.85 and the Second Board Index was down 81.35 points to 3,793.55.

The Industrial Index declined 23.39 points to 2,036.27, and the Finance Index fell 138.13 points to 6,135.97 while the Mesdaq Index lost 76.84 points to 2,921.43. Losers led gainers by 389 to 150 while 187 counters traded unchanged, 518 untraded and 32 others suspended.

Volume decreased to 352.179 million shares worth RM584.885 million from yesterday's 375.129 million shares valued at RM552.665 billion.According to a local dealer, some investors preferred to take quick profits from gains following the RM60 billion mini-budget announced on Tuesday.

As for the actives, KNM lost 2 sen to 32 sen, Resorts shed 7 sen to RM1.92 sen, Compugates dropped half a sen to 16 sen and Picorp added half a sen to 47 sen.Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby decreased 20 sen to RM5.35, Maybank shed 28 sen to RM4.06, Public Bank edged down 25 sen to RM7.05, Tenaga went down 5 sen to RM6.05 and IOI Corp declined 2 sen to RM3.74.Meanwhile, KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower amid bearish market sentiment.

March 2009 declined 12 points to 835, April 2009 decreased 11.5 points to 831.5 and June 2009 fell 13 points to 821 while September 2009 went down 13 points to 807.5.Volume declined to 7,906 lots from 8,360 lots on Wednesday while open interests increased to 24,133 contracts from 24,025 contracts previously. - Bernama, AFP