04/12/2012 (The Star) - Shares of plantations were among the major losers in late morning on Tuesday as crude palm oil (CPO) futures extended their decline.

At 11.01am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.99 of a point to 1,606.36. Turnover was 218.05 million shares valued at RM261.21mil. There were 146 gainers, 241 losers and 269 counters unchanged.

CPO for February delivery fell RM19 to RM2,297.

Sarawak Plantations fell, Batu Kawan and PBB Group fell 10 sen each to RM2.80, RM17.68 and RM11.88 respectively.

Heavyweight IOI Corp was down eight sen to RM4.85 and it was the most active among the plantations with 1.48 million shares done.

Kenanga Investment Research downgraded the plantation sector to Underweight (from Neutral) with its average CPO price estimates for CY12-13E reduced to RM2,900-RM2,850 per tonne (from RM2,975-RM3,000 per tonnes previously).