Profit-taking pulls KL mart down

Published: 2009/07/04

Bursa Malaysia ended lower yesterday on profit-taking in selected heavyweights and lower liners ahead of the introduction of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) next week, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell 6.02 points, or 0.558 per cent, to close at 1,072.69, dragged down by losses mostly in IJM Corp and Hong Leong Bank.Dealers said gains in Tenaga Nasional, however, managed to cap some of the losses.

The KLCI, which opened 8.46 points lower at 1,070.25, moved between 1,067.84 and 1,077.43 throughout the day.The Plantation Index declined 31.78 points to 5,375.84, the Finance Index lost 46 points to 8,542.12 and the Industrial Index was 13.43 points lower at 2,375.51.

The FBMEmas Index decreased 13.86 points to 7,208.01 and the FBMMesdaq Index slipped 22.67 points to 3,976.31.The FBM2BRD Index rose 35.32 points to 4,725.07 and the FBM30 Index increased 12.7 points to 6,987.67Gainers led losers by 284 to 280 while 207 counters were unchanged, 455 untraded and 34 suspended.

With the introduction of FBM KLCI, the current FTSE Bursa Malaysia Large 30 Index would be retired. Financial products using the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Large 30 Index and KLCI, FBM30etf, KLCI Futures and KLCI Options, would adopt FBM KLCI as the underlying index.Meanwhile, FTSE Bursa Malaysia 100 Index would be renamed FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100.

A dealer said instead of tracking 100 stocks, the FBM KLCI would be made up of the 30 largest listed companies by market value, with at least a 15 per cent free float.He said profit-taking was seen in counters that would not be in the FBM KLCI list on Monday. IJM Corp lost 50 sen to RM5.30 and Hong Leong Bank shed 25 sen to RM5.40.

Among the actives, Talam Corp-RCPS fell 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen, Talam Corp eased 1 sen to 9.5 sen and KNM Group added 1.5 sen to 79 sen.In heavyweights, Sime Darby was unchanged at RM7.25, Maybank added 5 sen to RM5.75, Bumiputra-Commerce eased 5 sen to RM9.50 and Tenaga gained 15 sen to RM7.75.

Meanwhile, KLCI futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended slightly higher despite lower cash market, dealers said.Spot month July 2009, September 2009 and December 2009 rose 3.5 points each to 1,074, 1,067 and 1,056.5 respectively while August 2009 improved 5.5 points to 1,071.5. - Bernama