KL bourse easier in cautious trade

Malaysian shares finished lower yesterday as investors remained cautious following the World Bank's forecast of a deepening global recession this year.

The World Bank has projected a 2.9 per cent fall in world economy this year and a decline in investments in developing countries.However, active bargain hunting in the afternoon session helped to narrow overall losses in the market.

Among the counters that recorded active buying were UEM Land and MISC.The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ended 1.49 points easier at 1,044.48.

The Industrial Index rose 10.60 points to 2,332.03 while the Plantation Index eased 38.96 points to 5,277.64 and the Finance Index lost 66.44 points to 8,299. The Technology Index slipped 0.25 of a point to 13.93.

The FBMEmas Index was 30.63 points lower at 6,964.64, the FBM30 Index went down 30.8 points to 6,683.32, the FBM2BRD Index fell 63.75 points to 4,638.89 and the FBMMesdaq Index dropped 60.48 points to 3,971.87.

Losers outnumbered gainers 451 to 214 while 204 counters were unchanged, 359 untraded and 38 suspended.Turnover was higher at 1.369 billion shares worth RM1.522 billion from 1.238 billion shares worth RM1.305 billion on Monday.Among heavyweights, Sime Darby lost 10 sen to RM6.75, Maybank was flat at RM5.60, Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings slipped 30 sen to RM8.75 and MISC rose 15 sen to RM8.70.As for the actives, KNM Group dropped half a sen to 80.5 sen, Scomi added half a sen to 65 sen and UEM Land rose half a sen to RM1.43.

Samchem, which made its debut on the main board yesterday, rose 19 sen to 90 sen.Volume on the main board increased to 1.176 billion shares worth RM1.472 billion from 1.088 billion shares worth RM1.27 billion on Monday.

Turnover on the second board increased to 103.779 million shares worth RM33.673 million from 63.725 million shares worth RM20.535 million on Monday.Meanwhile, KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed mostly higher yesterday as the market saw active bargain-hunting after yesterday's losses, dealers said.

June 2009 rose three points to 1,047, July 2009 increased 4.5 points to 1,045 and September 2009 gained three points to 1,040 but December 2009 dropped 0.5 point to 1,033.5.Turnover was higher at 8,627 lots compared to 8,140 lots on Monday while open interests declined to 23,353 contracts from 23,452 contracts previously. - Bernama