KL shares end mixed, but CI up (19.02.2009)

MALAYSIAN shares ended the day mixed amid consistent interest in key index-linked stocks following three straight days of losses, dealers said.

Gains on key heavyweights helped push the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) to 899.59, up 4.36 points or 0.5 per cent, its highest since February 13. Advancers equaled decliners the 100-member gauge..

Decliners led advancers by 251 to 211 while 203 counters were unchanged,607 still untraded and 32 others suspended.

Turnover today was at 334.989 million shares valued at RM595.489 million, an increase from yesterday's 303.596 million shares worth RM491.432 million.

Aeon Co (M) Bhd rose 2.8 per cent to RM3.68, the steepest gain since December 30. The Malaysian unit of Japanese retailer Aeon Co said it agreed to buy a parcel of land in Kuala Lumpur and a shopping mall to be built on it, for RM107.2 million.

Esso Malaysia Bhd fell 2.4 per cent to RM2.06, the lowest close since December 26. The Malaysian retailing unit of Exxon Mobil Corp said it had a loss of RM327.5 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, compared with a profit of RM13.9 million a year earlier. Its earnings were hurt by “inventory holding losses,” following the drop in crude oil prices, it said in a statement.

Halim Mazmin Bhd, a Malaysian shipping operator, surged 45 per cent to 58 sen, the most on record after the Business Times reported that its biggest shareholder is planning to take the company private. Halim Mohammad, the biggest shareholder of Halim Mazmin, will offer to buy the shares at 60 sen each in a deal valued at about RM70 million, the newspaper reported, citing the investor, who’s also the company’s chairman.

Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd climbed 1 per cent to RM3.90. Malaysia’s biggest cement producer said fourth-quarter profit rose 34 per cent to RM119.1 million from a year earlier. Sales climbed to RM641.4 million from RM542.5 million, it said in a statement.

Time Engineering Bhd slid 8 per cent to 11.5 sen, the largest drop since January 20. The Malaysian telecommunications services company said it had a loss of RM55.7 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, compared with a profit of RM27.3 million a year earlier, because of a RM50.6 million “impairment loss” on an investment.

Compugates was the most actively traded stock, remaining at its overnight price of 16.5 sen with 21.286 million shares traded, followed by KNM which was also flat at 42 sen and MRCB which inched up half a sen to 90 sen.

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby added five sen to RM5.65 while Tenaga Nasional and Maybank rose 10 sen each to RM6.30 and RM5.60 respectively.

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