KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby advanced in active trade on Monday though its dividend had gone ex while exporters such as Hartalega fell as the ringgit strengthened against several key currencies.



At 5pm, the KLCI was down 4.73 points or 0.28% to 1,713.13 – extending its decline from last week.



Turnover was slow with 1.80 billion shares valued at RM2.57bil. Decliners beat advancers by more than two to one, or 621 losers to 253 gainers, abd 410 counters unchanged.



On the external front, Hong Kong shares rose slightly on Monday, led by index heavyweight Tencent but China and Japan markets closed lower. Also in the red were Singapore and Thailand.



The ringgit rallied 0.68% against the US dollar to 4.0630 – the best since September 2016. It jumped 1.21% to the pound sterling at 5.4602 and jumped 1.19% to the euro at 4.8218 and edged up 0.85% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0128.



Sime Darby, which resumed trading last Thursday without its property and plantation units, was the most active on Monday. It saw 46.87 million shares done. Its final single tier dividend of 17 sen per share for the financial year ended June 30, 2017 went ex on Monday.



However, Sime Plantations fell 16 sen to RM4.85 and Sime Property lost eight sen to RM1.12 -- extending their losses.



Hartalega fell the most, down 41 sen to RM9.15 as the stronger ringgit would impact its exports. Chip maker MPI lost 34 sen to RM12.60.



US light crude oil fell 54 cents to US$57.82 and Brent was down 40 cents to US$63.33.

Refiner Petron fell 32 sen to RM11.24 but Hengyuan 90 jumped 90 sen to RM11.42. However, Petronas Dagangan added 20 sen to RM24.40, Petronas Gas six sen to RM15.94 and Petronas Chemicals three sen to RM7.43.



Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM2 to RM2,605 per tonne. IOI Corp and KL Kepong were flat at RM4.46 and RM24.38 while PPB Group added eight sem to RM16.74. United Plantations gained 30 sen to RM28.40.



Among the banks and finance stocks, HLFG added 34 sen to RM16.40 while Hong Leong Bank gained 16 sen to RM15.30, Maybank and RHB Bank were flat at RM9.25 amd RM4.90 but AmBank fell seven sen to RM4.08 and CIMB 10 sen lower at RM5.95.

As for telcos, Axiata and Digi rose one sen each to RM5.34 and RM4.65 but Maxis fell 10 sen to RM5.83 and Telekom six sen lower at RM5.97.



Tenaga climbed 12 sen to RM15.58 and Wesports jumped 14 sen to RM3.58. IJM Corp fell 19 sen to RM2.90.