Kuala Lumpur, November 17 – Bursa Malaysia ended the Thursday trading day, before the long holidays and GE15 in flattish manner with the benchmark index FBM KLCI moved up marginally by 0.94 point or +0.06% at 1,449.32.
Meanwhile on the Asian front, most bourses headed southward amid mounting tensions between North Korea and the US. Rising drills by the US army along with South Korea and Japan in the Kim Jong-un region have received a fierce response. According to Reuters, “North Korea warned on Thursday of “fiercer military responses” to U.S. efforts to boost its security presence in the region with its allies”. This has triggered the risk-off mood in the global markets and risk-perceived currencies are facing severe heat.
Release of better-than-expected US Retail Sales data has also supported the US dollar index (DXY). The robust consumer demand gives businesses no incentive to forgo price increases, thereby making the task of getting inflation in check more difficult for Federal Reserve policymakers.
** The FTSE BM KLCI opened at 1,446.56. The index fluctuated between 1,441.57 – 1,448.32.
** 315 counters are gainers, 402 counters are unchanged, while 522 counters are decliners.
** Total volume of 2,634,945,800 shares changed hands; while Turnover of RM 1,851,019,501
** The Top 5 Gainers: PETDAG (22.82, +0.34); DKSH (4.68, +0.25); AMWAY (5.03, +0.20); PETGAS (17.06, +0.20); BKAWAN (21.48, +0.18)
** The Top 5 Losers: HEXTECH (13.12, -0.78); DNEX (0.505, -0.25); KLK (21.42, -0.20); BLDPLNT (10.80, -0.20); NHFATT (2.53, -0.15)
** The Top 5 Active: DNEX (0.505, -0.25); ASB (0.125, +0.005); TOPGLOV (0.925, -0.035); HSI-HET (0.08, 0.00); HSI-CLC (0.36, -0.035)
* Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 14.73 points or +0.45% to 3,280.90; Hong Kong’s HSI ceded 210.82 points or -1.15% at 18,045.66; Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shed 97.73 points or -0.35% at 27,930.57; Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index dropped 4.55 points or -0.15% at 3,115.43; Korea’s Kospi Index down 34.55 points or -1.39% at 2,442.90; Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 13.50 points or +0.19% at 7,135.70.
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