KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed higher, underpinned by gains in telcos and banks in thin trade on Monday in the holiday-shortened trading week while key Asian markets also ended higher.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 8.62 points or 0.52% to 1,654.84. Turnover was just 1.01 billion shares valued at RM1.22bil. There were 338 gainers, 363 losers and 335 counters unchanged.
The ringgit closed higher agains the key currencies. It ended up 3.9967 against the US dollar from 3.9983 while it advanced to 5.2976 against the pound sterling from 5.3192. Against the Singapore dollar, it rose to 2.9710 from 2.9738 and edged higher against the euro to 4.4400 from 4.4404.
As for consumer stocks, BAT was the top gainer, up RM1.50 to RM54, Heneiken 74 sen to RM16.20, F&N 38 sen to RM25.58 and Carlsberg 32 sen to RM13.58.
Maxis was the biggest mover among the KLCI stocks as its gains of 15 sen to RM6.10 pushed the 30-stock index up 1.92 points. Axiata added nine sen to RM5.60 and nudged the index up 1.35 points. Telekom rose two sen to RM6.79 and Digi fell one sen to RM4.77.
As for banks, CIMB rose nine sen to RM4.40 and pushed the KLCI up 1.34 points, Ambank added eight sen to RM4.47, RHB Bank three sen to RM5.16. However, Public Bank shed two sen to RM19.38 and Hong Leong Bank four sen to RM13.16.
US light crude oil rebounded 22 cents to US$49.21 and Brent added 25 cents to US$50.60.
Among the oil and gas stocks, SK Petro rose three sen to RM1.46 and Petronas Gas six sen to RM21.98 but Petronas Dagangan and Petronas Chemicals fell two sen each to RM23.46 and RM6.55. LNG carrier MISC was up four sen to RM7.41.
Genting Bhd
and Genting Malaysia ended the day up four sen each to RM8.05 and RM4.39.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery added RM34 to RM2,393 per tonne. PPB Group added eight sen to RM16.46, KL Kepong four sen to RM4.38, IOI Corp three sen to RM5.16 and Sime Darby fell one sen to RM7.59.
On the external front, a post-Brexit recovery across European markets stalled on Monday with major share indexes mixed while safe-haven demand for precious metals helped the price of silver surge to a near-two year high, Reuters reported.
Europe's Stoxx 600 fell 0.3% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% with weaker financials offsetting gains from shares in mining companies. Silver spiked 1.4% higher to US$20.01 an ounce, breaking the US$20-dollar level for the first time in nearly two years.
Reuters also reported Hong Kong stocks climbed on Monday for a third straight session of gains, as higher commodity prices and hopes of more stimulus measures from Beijing boosted resources shares, and investors built up positions amid ample liquidity in the market.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% to 15,775.80;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.27% to 21,059.20;
CSI 300 added 1.6% to 3,204.70;
Shanghai’s Composite Index jumped 1.91% to 2,988.60;
Shenzhen Composite added 1.57% to 2,001.69;
Hang Seng China Enterprise added 1.03% to 8,802.35;
Taiwan’s Taiex edged up 0.26% to 8,760.58;
South Korea’s Kospi closeed up 0.4% to 1,995.30; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index 2,870.56.
Spot gold rose US$9.02 to US$1,350.36.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
