KUALA LUMPUR: Refiners Hengyuan and Petron Malaysia , which have been enjoying a strong rally in recent months, were among the top losers in late afternoon trade on Friday, which is the last trading day of 2017.The shares of Hengyuan and its call warrants, which were among the top gainers early Friday, were now on the top losers list.At 3.10pm, Hengyuan was the top loser, down RM1.10 to RM16.86 with 8.58 million shares. Its call warrants CB fell 30 sen to RM1.47, CD lost 23 sen to RM1.27 and CF was down 17 sen tpo 85 sen while CE fell 16 sen to 98 sen.Petron fell 70 sen to RM13.90 with 1.44 million shares done.The FBM KLCI was down 1.08 points or 0.06% to 1,778.02. Turnover was 2.1 billion shares valued at RM1.27bil. There were 333 gainers, 429 losers and 463 counters unchanged.Petrong and Hengyuan share prices have rallied in the past year due to the recovery in the crude oil prices.Reuters reported US oil prices hit their highest levels since mid-2015 on the final trading day of the year as an unexpected fall in American production and a fall in commercial crude inventories stoked buying.In international markets, Brent crude oil futures also rose, supported by ongoing supply cuts by top producers OPEC and Russia as well as strong demand from China.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$60.30 a barrel at 0504 GMT, up 46 cents or 0.8% from their last close, the highest since June 2015.Brent crude futures - the international benchmark - were also up, rising 45 cents or 0.7% to US$66.61 a barrel. Brent broke through $67 earlier this week for the first time since May 2015.Since the start of the year, Brent and WTI have risen by 17% and 12%, respectively, although the price rises from mid-2017 are much stronger, at nearly 50%, Reuters reported.

Source: The Star December 29, 2017 07:30 UTC