KUALA LUMPUR: Integrated engineering supporting services provider, UWC Bhd hogged the limelight on Bursa Malaysia during its trading debut on Wednesday amid a cautious broader market

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 3.90 points or 0.23% to 1,678.97 off the earlier low due to some last minute fund buying. Turnover was 2.24 billion shares valued at RM2.02bil. There were 329 gainers, 434 losers and 446 counters unchanged.

UWC closed up 58 sen to RM1.40 with 200 million shares done, the best performing stock on its trading debut so far this year. 

KESM rode on the coat tails of UWC's surge, up 19 sen to RM8.43 while Dufu added 13 sen to RM1.87. All these companies are involved in semiconductor related business.

US light crude oil jumped US$1.16 to US$58.99 and Brent added US$1.08 to US$65.24. 

However, there was no positive nudge for Petronas Chemical which fell 19 sen to RM8.41 and erased 2.64 points from the KLC. Petronas Dagangan lost 54 sen to RM25 and Petronas Gas 18 sen lower at RM17.32. Dialog added one sen to RM3.38.

Tenaga fell 10 sen to RM13.74 and wiped out one point, Genting shed five sen to RM6.60 but GentingM eked out one sen to RM3.30. Press Metal rose seven sen to RM4.43.

As for telcos, Maxis lost six sen to RM5.65, Digi one sen to RM5.05 but Axiata edged up one sen to RM5.18.

Banks were mixed with CIMB shedding two sen to RM5.33, AmBank and RHB Bank four sen lower at RM4.31 and RM5.71, Maybank and HL Bank unchanged at RM8.94 and RM19 but Public Bank added six sen to RM23.12.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM18 to RM1,924 per tonne – the weakest since August 2015.

Malaysia's palm oil stockpiles at the end of June eased 0.97% from the previous month to 2.42 million tonnes, industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Wednesday.

Among the plantations, Sime Plantation shed two sen to RM4.88, KL Kepong four sen lower at RM24.56, PPB Group flat at RM18.72 while IOI Corp edged up two sen to RM4.27.

London Biscuit, which was classified a PN17 company, stumped the market when speculative trading saw its share price jump seven sen to 23 sen with 110 million shares traded.

IJM, which fell to an intra-day of RM2.11 managed to retrace most of its losses to close at RM2.38, down five sen. 
 
The ringgit rose 0.1% to the US dollar to 4.1378 and gained 0.04% to the pound sterling to 5.1655. It slipped 0.11% against the euro to 4.6460 but eked out a 0.03% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0410.

On the external front, the Hong Kong stock market ended higher in thin trade, as Beijing and Washington restarted trade talks, while investors were cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony later in the day, Reuters reported. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.31%.

However, Chinese shares fell as flat producer price inflation fuelled concerns about domestic growth, and a flood of initial public offerings targeting Shanghai’s new tech board diverted funds from the rest of the market. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.44%.