China's Credit Controls and Profit Takings Knock FBM KLCI Down 4 Points

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Bursa Malaysia Spook By China's Monetary Control

Despite the strong overnight rally on Wall Street, Asian stock markets closed lower on Tuesday, May 4 on continued concerns over the Chinese economy and the likelihood of further credit tightening measures.

Sentiment within the region was affected by fears that China's ongoing efforts to curb inflation and property prices could slow its economy, as well as the region’s recovery.

China increased the deposit reserve requirement ratio for the third time this year. This follows a recent slew of measures to curb excessive property speculation following a sharp rise in prices.

The FBM KLCI opened in the black but soon succumbed to losses. It shed 4 points to end the day at 1,342.8 after opening 1.47 points higher at 1,348.36 in the morning.

For heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM7.65, Sime Darby decreased five sen to RM8.76, CIMB increased two sen to RM14.20 and Maxis dropped two sen to RM5.30.

The FBM 30 component stocks score card ended the day with 8 Greens, 15 Reds and 7 Unchanged

Decliners outpaced advancers by 556 to 175 while 285 counters were unchanged, 354 untraded and 29 others suspended.

Among the active stocks, Talam Corp declined one sen to 14 sen, Genting went down three sen to RM2.84, Green Packet dropped 2.5 sen to 96 sen and Berjaya Corp fell 14 sen to RM1.55.

Top gainers include BAT, KL Kepong, Padini and KFC. Losers include Genting, Tanjong plc, Proton and Tan Chong.

At close, the Finance Index dropped 17.619 points to 12,076.9 and the Industrial Index went down 13.19 points to 2,765.3 but the Plantation Index added 4.11 points to 6,461.59. The FBM Emas Index declined 47.67 points to 9,057.89, the FBM70 fell 82.971 points to 8,913.89 and the FBM Ace Index was 52.57 points lower at 4,106.22.

The Main Market volume increased slightly to 640.982 million shares worth RM1.031 billion from yesterday's 636.772 million shares valued at RM993.670 million.Volume on the ACE Market dropped to 64.941 million shares worth RM12.384 million from 81.241 million shares valued at RM17.441 million previously.