KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil price rose beyond RM2,300 at the midday break on April 13 but this was not enough to convince investors to accumulate, instead there was some locking in of recent gains, with KL Kepong and Sime Darby among the decliners.

At 12.30pm, the KL Composite Index was down 2.56 points to 938.82. Turnover was 575.18 million shares valued at RM443.75 million. There were 241 gainers, 210 losers and 162 stocks unchanged.

CPO price rose RM59 to RM2,308 after stockpiles last month fell 13% to 1.36 million tonnes, the lowest since July 2007. Light crude oil fell 37 cents to US$51.87.

Among Asian markets, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rallied 2.71% to 1,878, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.21% to 8,983 and Shanghai’s Composite Index 2.31% up to 2,500.8.

At Bursa, TAHPS was the top loser, down 40 sen to RM2.50 while Fututec lost half the value, tumbling 30 sen to 30 sen.

BAT fell 25 sen to RM46.25, Magna 19 sen to RM2.01, Prestar 17 sen to 42.5 sen and Kobay 12.5 sen to 46 sen. BAT fell 25 sen to RM46.25.

KLK lost 20 sen to RM11.30 and Sime Darby 15 sen lower to RM6.35 but Kulim rose 15 sen to RM5.45.

Proton rose as much as 14 sen or 7% to RM2.12 as interest was generated ahead of the official launch of its Exora. MBM Resources added 15 sen to RM2.35.

MTD was the top gainer, up 25 sen to RM1.90, Subur Tiasa 11 sen to RM1.71 and Jerasia 10 sen to 48 sen.

EON Cap added 16 sen to RM3.10 on The Edge FinancialDaily report that EON Bank group’s total loan disbursements rose by nearly 50% year-on-year to reach RM2 billion in the first quarter.

KPS rose 15 sen to RM1.58, Jaks added 3.5 sen to 46 sen and Puncak five sen to RM3.

CIMB Equities Research is maintaining a Trading Buy on the water sector as it expects newsflow to pick up in the coming weeks, leading to clarity on the federal government’s plans for the state’s water industry.