Malaysian shares ended in the red on Monday, erasing yesterday's gains. Investor sentiment was downbeat after the trade surplus narrowed in June from a month earlier, missing the Trading Economics forecast.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, the main gauge of Malaysian stocks, shed 9.16 points to end 0.5% lower at 1,722.29.
In economic news, Malaysia's trade surplus narrowed to 14.9 billion ringgit in June from 39.9 billion ringgit in May, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. While the latest print missed the Trading Economics forecast of 42 billion ringgit for the month, it was still up 64.9% from a year earlier.
Total exports grew 45.4% year over year to 177.9 billion ringgit, slightly faster than the 45.3% increase in May. On a month-on-month basis, exports declined 3.2%. Imports rose 43.9% to a record 163 billion ringgit. The pace of growth accelerated from the 14.1% increase in May. Compared with the previous month, imports declined 13.2%.
Malaysia's state pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) said it invested 163.4 million ringgit in Indonesian agritech startup eFishery for a 2.51% minority stake and is pursuing "all available avenues to maximize recovery of the investment." The statement followed a Bloomberg report that Malaysia's anti-graft agency had launched an investigation into losses linked to KWAP's investment in eFishery.
In corporate news, shares of Silver Ridge (KLSE:SRIDGE) slid about 3% on close after its unit, Ingress Delta Construction, secured a letter of award from Makna Setia for subcontract works on a mixed-use development in Selangor, Malaysia.
GuocoLand (Malaysia) (KLSE:GUOCO) shares will be suspended from trading starting July 30 to facilitate the implementation of its selective capital reduction and repayment exercise. The suspension follows its announcements on July 16 and July 17 regarding the proposed exercise.