KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): The FBM KLCI settled 7.69 points or 0.43% lower at 1,763.67 points today, tracking regional markets as investors turned to profit taking as the mood turned cautious amid expectations that Bank Negara would raise the overnight policy rate (OPR) soon.
“There is an absence of window dressing, not just locally but among regional markets. Apart from that, investors are also booking in profits, particularly on worries that Bank Negara Malaysia would raise [key interest rate] in the second half of this year,” TA Securities Holdings Bhd senior technical analyst Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com.
“Further, there are other uncertainties such as concerns over how the upcoming general election could affect the Malaysian stock market. In the meantime, investors are closely monitoring the stock market and keeping a cautious outlook,” Soo said.
Soo added that trading for the time being up until the first half of July this year is expected to remain “choppy”, further dragged down by the volatility in commodity prices, and is only likely to recover towards year end.
Across the FBM KLCI, about 1.51 billion shares valued at some RM2.31 billion were exchanged.
Losers outpaced gainers at 477 versus 324, while 448 counters settled unchanged.
The top three gainers of the day were Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd and Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd. The losing counters were led by Teck Guan Perdana Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.92%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.77%, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 0.16%.
Reuters reported that Japan's Nikkei share average fell to two-week lows today on concerns that the days of cheap funding from European central banks may soon be over. The Nikkei declined 0.9% to settle at 20,033.43, having fallen to as low as 19,946.51 — the weakest level seen since June 16 — earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, the index of Japanese real estate investment trusts tumbled to a 16-month low, partly due to concerns over a potential hike in global interest rates, the news agency reported.