KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares ended the morning little
changed Friday, with volumes thin and investors refraining from making
aggressive bets ahead of the weekend.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was up 0.09 point at 1,186.63.
"The KLCI was seesawing within a narrow range, mainly because there is no
lead since many regional markets are closed today," said Pong Teng Siew, head of
research at MIMB Investment Bank.
"Sentiment is fragile, but I also think that if you're a long-term investor,
this is a good time to look at the market again," he said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index gained 9.95 points or 0.1 percent
at 7,899.05, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index fell 38.96 points
or 0.7 percent to 5,622.15.
Decliners led advancers 352 to 148, with 203 stocks unchanged and 664
untraded.
Trading volume was 196.91 million shares valued at 354.46 million ringgit.
At midday, the Malaysian ringgit was quoted at 3.1925/1955 to the US dollar.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 2.2 percent at
12,361.32 on bargain-hunting after a big drop in the previous session.
The Dow's recent trading pattern may suggest that things are beginning to
stabilize after the Federal Reserve's latest moves, said Pong. The Fed cut its
discount rate by a quarter of a percentage point last weekend and then lowered
the benchmark fed funds rate by 75 basis points to 2.25 percent.
Sime Darby, the world's largest palm oil producer by planted area, was
steady at 9.10 ringgit.
Asiatic, the plantation unit of the Genting group, lost 30 sen or 4 percent
at 7.15 ringgit and IOI Corp, the second-largest palm oil stock in Malaysia by
market value, dropped 10 sen or 1.5 percent to 6.65 ringgit. Mid-size planter
IJM Plantations slid 12 sen or 3.5 percent to 3.28 ringgit.
Pay-TV operator Astro dropped 8 sen or 2.4 percent to 3.32 ringgit after the
company reported a net loss of 6.2 million ringgit for the fiscal year to
January 2008, falling short of the consensus net profit estimate of 98 million
ringgit. Astro attributed its weaker-than-expected results to losses arising
from its Indonesian venture.
"The total 323 million ringgit loss in Indonesia was expected. We think the
consensus was surprised by sharply higher customer acquisition costs, which
ballooned 12 percent to 749 ringgit per customer," Citigroup said in a research
note.
Cellphone network carrier DiGi.com topped the gainers, rising 30 sen or 1.4
percent to 22.50 ringgit, followed by British American Tobacco, which gained 25
sen or 0.6 percent at 42.75 ringgit.
Malaysia's largest bank, Maybank, added 15 sen or 1.7 percent at 8.85
ringgit and state-controlled Telekom Malaysia rose 10 sen or 0.9 percent to
10.80 ringgit, while national power utility Tenaga lost 10 sen or 1.5 percent at
6.75 ringgit.
aipeng.soo@thomson.com
as/jm
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