11/08/2012 (The Star) - Key Asian markets fell in the morning session on Friday as investors grew impatient as hopes somewhat faded for more steps to resolve the eurozone debt crisis and boost global growth.

At Bursa Malaysia, declining stocks beat advancers amid a lacklustre market where investors decided to stay on the sidelines ahead of the weekend.

Profit taking picked up pace in late morning and at 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.25 points or 0.14% to 1,640.27. Turnover was 615.91 million shares valued at RM500.37mil. There were 254 gainers, 320 losers and 322 stocks unchanged.

Reuters reported Asian shares extended losses on Friday, snapping a four-day rally, as China's July export and import data fell far short of expectations. It said China's exports grew just 1.0% in July from a year earlier, much weaker than market expectations for an 8.6% rise, while imports grew 4.7%, against expectations for 7.2%.

Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.91% to 8,896.83; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.71% to 20,125.51; Shanghai's Composite Index shed 0.12% to 2,171.42; Taiwan's Taiex 0.23% lower at 7,416.58; South Korea's Kospi eased 0.06% to 1,939.38 and Singapore's Straits Times Index 0.17% to 3,046.99.

US light crude oil fell 24 cents to US$93.12 and Brent 26 cents lower at US$112.96 while spot gold declined US$5.15 to US$1,612.02.

The ringgit weakened slightly to the US dollar at 3.1138.

Crude palm oil for third-month futures fell RM17 to RM2,848 per tonne. Malaysia's July palm oil stocks rose 17.6% to 1.998 million tonnes from 1.699 million tonnes in June, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Reuters reported that July's rise almost met market expectations that stocks in the world's No.2 palm oil producer likely jumped 17.7% to nearly two million tonnes.

Among the plantations, TDM fell 33 sen to RM3.96, United Malacca nine sen to Rm7.79 and KLK eight sen to RM23.66.

BAT fell the most, down 76 sen to RM61. Genting fell seven sen to RM8.95, TM and Petronas Dagangan four sen each to RM5.83 and RM22.16 while AirAsia eased two sen to RM3.66.

Shangri-La reversed its Thursday's gains to fall 17 sen to RM4.20 while MSC lost 15 sen to RM3.35.

Among the banks, HL Bank fell six sen to RM13.42, RHB Capital three sen to RM7.19, Maybank and CIMB two sen each to RM8.93 and RM7.89.

F&N was the top gainer, up 40 sen to RM20 as interest perked up as its major shareholder, F&N Limited of Singapore advanced on fresh talks Thai Beverage had raised its stake in the Singapore firm after a block trade stoked speculation of a takeover battle.

Trans Ocean jumped 25.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Kris Assets 20 sen to RM9.15 while Jobstreet and JTI climbed 10 sen each to RM2.20 and RM7.02 on stronger earnings.