KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): The FBM KLCI fell 1.33 points or 0.1% as investors locked in gains from the index's advance in recent days.
Today, the KLCI closed at 1,683.09 points at 5pm. Yesterday, the index rose 7.39 points, after climbing 6.13 points on Tuesday.
Malaysian shares rose in recent days on news 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was selling its power assets to China General Nuclear Power Corp, instead of Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
Investors could have perceived such updates as good news for Tenaga, amid concerns Tenaga might overpay for state-owned 1MDB's power assets to bailout the company.
Today, analysts sensed a lack of catalysts exciting the share market, after Tenaga's failed bid for 1MDB's power assets.
“I would say that the market’s performance today is mixed. After the news on Tenaga, there has not been any real market-moving news.
"As for the impact of the financial results season, I think earnings for export-driven companies are the only ones seeing some excitement,” Jupiter Securities' chief market strategist Benny Lee told theedgemarkets.com.
Export-based companies have been closely watched, as these firms are seen as beneficiaries of a weaker ringgit against the US dollar.
At 5pm, the ringgit weakened to 4.2218 against the US dollar.
Bursa Malaysia ended the day with 2.33 billion shares, valued at RM1.97 billion transacted.
There were 425 gainers against 439 decliners. Top gainers included Ajinomoto (M) Bhd and Chee Wah Corp Bhd.
Major decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd and Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd. The most actively-traded stock was Borneo Oil Bhd.
Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.49%, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.06%
Reuters reported Asian shares advanced on Thursday, while the euro remained under pressure on growing bets the European Central Bank will roll out more stimulus soon, even as the U.S. Federal Reserve looks set to raise interest rates.
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations)