Kuala Lumpur shares end morning lower after China's sharp falls

Kuala Lumpur shares end morning lower after China's sharp falls - UPDATE
30/05/2007 13:06:00
KUALA LUMPUR (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices ended the morning session lower, in line
with regional markets, after China's move to raise the stamp duty on securities
trading sparked a 6 pct plunge in the Shanghai composite index, dealers said.
The hike is the latest in a series of efforts by the Chinese government to curb
its rapidly rising stock markets, they added.
The stamp duty was raised to 0.3 pct of the transaction value from 0.1 pct with
immediate effect.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed down 10.13 points or 0.75 pct at
1,332.87.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index lost 69.66 points to 8,522.49, while
the second board index dropped 2.15 points to 99.41.
Losers led gainers 740 to 121, with 197 stocks unchanged and 282 counters
untraded.
Trading volume was 495.351 mln shares, valued at 931.899 bln rgt.
"The local bourse went down following the fall in China's stock markets,
especially the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets,'' noted N. Kaladher, head of
research at TA Securities.
"The local market is basically reacting to what's happening in China,'' he
said.
Kaladher said a lack of fresh leads locally further dampened sentiment.
Wan Suhaimi, an economist at Kenanga Research, said the wider impact of China's
latest move is hard to gauge at the moment although he sees a less potent threat
this time around than the one which caused world markets to crash on Feb 27.
"First of all, the carry trades, especially for yen, were not as pervasive as
before, so on that score, it has become less threatening. Also regional markets
have not been as hot since the Feb 27 sell-down, so again the impact of a sudden
pullout of funds is also diminished,'' he noted.
At the midday break, blue-chips like British American Tobacco (BAT), Bursa
Malaysia and IOI Corp led the losers.
BAT lost 0.50 rgt to 46.0, Bursa shed 0.40 rgt or 3.67 pct to 10.50, while IOI
Corp was down 0.25 rgt at 27.50.
Among index heavyweights, Telekom Malaysia was flat at 10.10, Tenaga rose 0.20
rgt to 11.30 and Maybank dropped 0.20 rgt to 12.0.
Elsewhere, PLUS Expressways lost 0.04 rgt to 3.0 after the firm reported first
quarter earnings that came within market expectations, dealers said.
Malaysian Oxygen was higher after Aberdeen Asset Management Sdn Bhd, which
holds a 9.4 pct stake in the company, reportedly said it does not intend to
accept a takeover offer from Germany's Linde AG.
The stock was up 0.10 rgt at 14.90.
Muhibbah Engineering and E&O succumbed to selling pressure despite posting
stronger quarterly earnings.
Muhibbah lost 0.30 rgt or 3.95 pct to 7.30 and E&O shed 0.01 rgt to 2.99.
Edaran Otomobil Nasional bucked the downtrend and chalked up 0.12 rgt or 3.92
pct to 3.18 after reporting an improvement in its quarterly profits.
At the close of the morning session, the ringgit was traded at 3.3975/4005,
while three-month interbank rates stood at 3.60/61.

Source: Osk Wirenews