KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): The FBM KLCI closed down 17.02 points or 1% at 1,684.97, dragged down mainly by Genting Malaysia Bhd (GENM) and Genting Bhd's share price drop. China-US trade war concerns and Brent crude oil's price fall below US$60 a barrel could have also hit Malaysian market sentiment.
Genting Bhd owns a 49.45% stake in GENM. theedgemarkets.com, quoting GENM, reported today that Fox Entertainment Group LLC, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp, FoxNext LLC (collectively referred to as FOX) issued a notice, in which FOX terminated a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with GENM and claimed some US$46.2 million (about RM193.6 million) in accelerated payments.
It was reported that GENM has pursued cause of action against FOX for breach of contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, among others.
At 5pm, GENM closed down 60 sen or 16.67% at RM3 while Genting Bhd fell 52 sen or 7.54% to RM6.38. GENM was the top decliner, in percentage terms, among the 30 KLCI stocks followed by Genting Bhd.
Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com that it is unclear at this point whether foreign funds were selling both GENM and Genting Bhd shares.
“If they are the ones selling, that would go against the trend as foreign funds have been buying mostly in the last week. Overall, market sentiment has been quite fragile and investors have been looking for any excuse to sell, and they got one today,” said Pong.
Across Bursa Malaysia today, 2.18 billion shares valued at RM2.61 billion were traded. Besides GENM and Genting Bhd, top decliners across the bourse included KLCI component stock Petronas Dagangan Bhd.
Leading gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and TIME dotCom Bhd.
Globally, Malaysian shares could have also taken cue from cautious Asian market sentiment and lower crude oil prices. Reuters reported that most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said he expects to
move ahead with raising tariffs on Chinese imports, damaging expectations of a thaw in trade tensions.
On crude oil markets, it was reported that oil slipped on Tuesday, pulled down by record Saudi Arabian production even as OPEC's top producer pushes for supply cuts ahead of the group's meeting in Austria next week.
It was reported that Brent crude oil futures briefly dipped below US$60 per barrel before rising back to US$60.33 at 0520 GMT, down 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at US$51.33 per barrel, down 30 cents, or 0.6 percent.