KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Chemicals and Maybank gave the FBM KLCI the much needed boost on Wednesday amid a weak broader market on worries about geopolitical risks but the ringgit fared better.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 7.39 points or 0.44% on late buying to end the day at 1,684.42. It was a volatile day which saw the index slumping to a low of 1,671 earlier before late fund buying enabled it to pare the losses.
Turnover was 2.76 billion shares valued at RM2.36bil. The broader market was cautious as decliners beat advancers 669 to 268 while 321 counters were unchanged.
The ringgit continued to advance against the major currencies after 1Malaysia Development Bhd agreed to sell its entire energy assets to China General Nuclear Power Corp for nearly RM10bil.
The ringgit was at 4.2098 to the US dollar from the previous close of 4.2425 while it gained against the pound sterling to 6.3545 from 6.4239. It was higher against the Singapore dollar at 2.9992 from 3.0018.
Key regional markets were mostly lower except for China, on heightened geopolitical tensions after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.
US light crude oil fell 36 cents to US$42.51 and Brent lost 46 cents to US$45.66. Petronas Chemicals rose 18 sen to RM6.92 and added 2.44 points to the KLCI while SK Petro gained seven sen to RM2.20. Petronas Dagangan and Petronas Gas were flat at RM25.04 and RM23.04.
Consumer stocks were among the gainers, led by Nestle which surged RM1.68 to RM75 and F&N added 44 sen to RM18.44 while BAT edged up two sen to RM58.80.
As for banks, Maybank rose seven sen to RM8.41 and pushed the KLCI up 1.16 points, AmBank six sen to RM4.62, CIMB four sen to RM4.60, Public Bank was flat at RM18.24 but RHB Cap lost seven sen to RM5.55.
Guan Chong hit limit-up, adding 30 sen to RM1.15 while its warrant jumped 17 sen to 17.5 sen.
Tenaga’s rally hit a speed bump, closing unchanged at RM13.58 after several days of gains and propelling the KLCI higher when it did not win the bid to buy 1MDB’s power assets.
As S&P Ratings said, while the power giant’s competition position would have been boosted by Edra assets, the bid valuation and funding strategy would have had a negative impact on the capital structure.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM3 to RM2,278. IOI Corp and PPB Group added two sen each to RM4.16 and RM15.62 but KL Kepong fell two sen to RM22.78.
ACE Market debutant Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated surged 17 sen to close at 32 sen in very active trade.
Crane manufacturer Favelle Favco saw rising interest, surging 28 sen to RM2.69 while burn-in chip tester KESM added 18 sen to RM5.19.
Meanwhile, export-driven stocks fell after the strong ringgit performance, especially glove makers. Kossan was down 48 sen to RM8 and Top Glove down 36 sen to RM9.29 while Hartalega
gave up 34 sen to RM5.44.
Johore Tin hit limit-down, plunging 56 sen to RM2.24 following the group’s announcement of its latest quarterly earnings as well as a related party transaction involving a subsidiary company.
Daibochi and Tommypak, which export packaging materials were among the top losers. Daibochi fell 25 sen to RM5.50 and Tomypak 23 sen to RM2.70.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.39% to 19,847.58;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.40% to 22,498.00;
Shanghai’s Composite Index rose 0.88% to 3,647.93;
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.17% to 8,386.13;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.34% to 2,009.42 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.95% to 2,895.79.
Spot gold shed 46 cents to US$1,075.19.
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