30/08/2012 (The Star) -  Crude palm oil (CPO) futures fell on Wednesday, dragging plantation stocks and the 30-stock FBM KLCI lower, on speculation that the stockpile could have increased.

The KLCI closed down for the fifth day, shedding 1.53 points or 0.09% to 1,645.58. Turnover was 1.26 billion shares valued at RM1.29bil. There were 352 gainers, 363 losers and 368 stocks unchanged.

CPO futures for third-month delivery fell to a low of RM2,978 per tonne in intra-day trade, the lowest since Aug 17. At 5.30pm, it was down RM34 to RM2,995.

Among the plantations, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 32 sen to RM23.24, dragging the KLCI down 0.53 of a point. PPB lost 10 sen to RM13.98, erasing 0.18 of a point of the index. Batu Kawan lost 18 sen to RM18.96, UMCCA 12 sen to RM7.69 and Genting Plantations 11 sen lower at RM9.23.

Other decliners were Genting Bhd, down 12 sen to RM9.02 and Genting Malaysia six sen lower at RM3.30. Tradewinds lost 23 sen to RM7.53, HL Industries 20 sen to RM4.62 and Aeon Credit 16 sen to RM12.88.

Pasukhas Group surged on its trading debut, rising 48.5 sen to 60.5 sen. There were 67 million shares done.

Consumer dividend stocks were again the top gainers, Dutch Lady adding 94 sen to RM42.30, Nestle 62 sen to RM64.60 and GAB 10 sen to RM15.86.

Other gainers were Petronas Dagangan, up 22 sen to RM22.82, Oriental 13 sen to RM7.75, Shell 12 sen to RM9 and UMW 12 sen to RM10.22.

Meanwhile, European shares and the euro traded in tight ranges on Wednesday with investors reluctant to take positions ahead of a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman and before seeing the European Central Bank's plan to tackle the region's debt crisis.

Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 9,069.81; Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.4% to 7,391.15 and South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.64% to 1,928.54. Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.05% to 3,041.57.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.12% to 19,788.51 and Shanghai's Composite Index 0.96% lower at 2,053.23.

US light crude oil fell 84 cents to US$95.49 and Brent 86 cents lower at US$111.72 while spot gold gave up US$1.47 to US$1,665.28.

The ringgit weakened against the US dollar to 3.1233.