Market volume drops further

Thursday, 27 August 2009 18:26

Caution persisted in key Asian stock markets on Thursday, Aug 27. Overnight, US stocks managed to eke out only a very small gain despite reporting stronger than expected new home sales and orders for durable goods.

This suggests that investors are growing more concerned that whilst the worst was over, the unfolding recovery may not be as strong as initial expectations. Bellwether indices in Japan, Hong Kong and China drifted lower with investors locking in profits from recent gains. The Singapore stock market bucked the trend, closing marginally higher.

The benchmark index for the Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI, opened weaker and fluctuated within a very narrow band. There was no clear direction for investors to move stock prices one way or the other.

It did, however, managed to climb into positive territory after the mid-day break – even though market breadth continued to be in the red. The FBM KLCI eventually ended four points higher at 1,176.9. However, losing counters outpaced gaining ones by a ratio of roughly five to four at the close.

BAT, DiGi, MISC-F, YTL Cement, MMC Corp and Measat were among the top gainers for the day. At the other end, Lafarge Malayan Cement, Key Asic, Tenaga Nasional and Tomei Consolidated were some of the notable losers.

Trading volume contracted further on Thursday. Little over 585 million shares changed hands. Market volume has been falling in recent days as investors moved back to the sidelines. Time dotCom was the most actively traded stock for the day. Other actives include Winsun Technologies, Multi Sports, Gamuda and Time Engineering.

In other developments, crude oil futures in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped to near US$71 per barrel, off its recent high of US$75 per barrel. The US Energy Department reported higher stockpiles for the week ended Aug 21.