Shares close lower

SHARE PRICES on Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower yesterday with investors selling their holdings on selected heavyweights, particularly plantation stocks, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) declined 1.56 points or 0.14 percent to 1,103.48 after opening 0.22 of a point lower at 1,104.82.

The losses in plantation counters like Sime Darby and IOI Corp dragged down the index at close. The KLCI moved between 1,089.47 and 1,108.65 throughout the day.

IOI Corp went down 10 sen to RM5.50 and Sime Darby declined 15 sen to RM7.60.

At close, the Plantation Index lost 117.92 points to 6,237.99, the Industrial Index added 10.21 points to 2,355.29 and the Finance Index fell 19.06 points to 8,413.92.

The FBMEmas declined 11.88 points to 7,337.07, the FBM30 advanced 5.10 points to 7,112.47, the FBM2BRD dropped 77.81 points to 5,229.26 and the FBMMesdaq went down 13.25 points to 4,178.96.

Volume was higher at 374.947 million shares worth RM912.177 million from 350.875 million shares valued at RM994.635 million last Friday. Volume on the Main Board rose to 319.529 million shares worth RM900.047 million from 298.276 million shares valued at RM976.932 million previously.

Turnover on the Second Board increased to 13.418 million units valued at RM7.369 million from 18.952 million units worth RM13.662 million last Friday.

On the Mesdaq Market, turnover improved to 17.826 million shares worth RM2.976 million compared to 15.497 million shares worth RM3.472 million previously.

Call warrants went up to 24.174 million shares worth RM884,538 from 18.150 million shares worth RM569,468 previously.

Direct business deals, however, reduced to 7.107 million shares valued at RM5.393 million from 28.411 million units worth RM43.284 million last Friday.

IOI Corp, which led the actives list, declined 10 sen to RM5.50 while Gamuda rose 16 sen to RM2.59, Kimble Corporation added five sen to 13.5 sen, KNM-CA eased one sen to 4.5 sen and KNM lost 25 sen to RM5.10.

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby declined 15 sen to RM7.60, Public Bank advanced 10 sen to RM10.30, Maybank eased five sen to RM7.10 and Tenaga Nasional decreased 10 sen to RM7.85.

On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 24.023 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 34.987 million, construction 43.413 million, trade/services 80.603 million, technology 4.098 million, infrastructure 5.911 million, finance 27.035 million, hotels 2.208 million, properties 25.250 million, plantations 42.287 million, mining 20,000, REITS 1.491 million, closed/fund 169,400, ETF 1.430 million, and loans 26.603 million.