Analysts figure that Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index is due for another down day when trading opens on Wednesday, on renewed concerns over the credit crisis and soaring oil prices, as well as a poor showing overnight on Wall Street. Shares in the Malaysian market were down slightly on Tuesday as investors locked in profits, countered by strong interest in crude oil and plantation stocks. The KLCI declined by 2.87 points or 0.2 percent to close at 1,372.38. There were 547 stocks that declined and 339 that saw gains, with 214 stocks unchanged. Volume was 1.54 billion shares worth 2.403 billion ringgit. Individual results were mixed. Palm oil producer IOI Corp jumped 4.9 percent, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 4.3 percent and Asiatic advanced 1.6 percent. Sime Darby closed the day down 1.8 percent, while Golden Hope dropped 1.6 percent, Guthire slid 4 percent and Banking group RHB Capital was down 0.8 percent. Wall Street provides more negative momentum after falling for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as the markets reacted to pessimistic remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a sharp spike in the price of oil. The major averages spent the majority of the session in a tight daily range below the unchanged line, and closed just shy of their intraday lows. The Dow fell 69.34 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 13,915.46. The Nasdaq fell 15.47 points, or 0.56 percent, to end at 2,764.58, while the S&P 500 declined 9.56 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 1,539.15. In economic news, Malaysia moved into seventh place among economies in the South, East and Southeast Asian region to draw foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, passing Indonesia. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Report 2007, FDI into Malaysia soared by 52.8 percent to hit US$6.1 billion in 2006, compared to US$3.97 billion in 2005. Also, Malaysia's FDI outflow more than doubled to US$6.04 billion. In corporate news, Malaysia's bourse will have a new largest entity in Synergy Drive, a palm oil firm created by the merger of three giant Malaysian plantation companies. Scheduled to begin listing in November, the new company will replace Maybank - the largest bank in the country - as the largest entry in the market, according to RHB Research. Synergy, which will be the world's largest listed palm oil firm, is the result of the planned merger between state-linked firms Sime Darby, Golden Hope Plantations and Kumpulan Guthrie and their subsidiaries in an $11 billion deal. In order to complete the merger, trading in the three companies will be suspended on October 18.
October 16, 2007 7:32 PM