KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed on a firmer note on Tuesday, with heavyweight Sime Darby gaining on fund buying as crude oil rebounded.
However, the ringgit fell 1.94% against the pound sterling as Britain was set to see interior affairs minister Theresa May becoming the new Prime Minister.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 0.1% to 1,653.97. Turnover was 1.4 billion shares valued at RM1.59bil. There were 374 gainers, 369 losers and 388 counters unchanged.
The ringgit fell against the pound sterling as Theresa May was set to be the new Prime Minister of Britain. It ended down 1.94% to 5.2339 from 5.1342 the previous day.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 3.9805 from 3.9938 and it edged up against the Singapore dollar to 2.9531 from 2.9616 and weakened against the euro to 4.4229 from 4.4075.
European shares were on track for a fourth straight day of gains and the safe-haven yen broke below its post-Brexit low on Tuesday as easing political tensions in Britain and stimulus hopes boosted risk appetite, Reuters reported.
China stocks posted solid gains on Tuesday, shaking off a weak morning session as investors bought shares in the finance and manufacturing sectors.
Among the consumer stocks, Dutch Lady
rose 40 sen to RM59.90, Ajinomoto added 20 sen to RM12.70 but F&N fell 32 sen to RM25.88. BAT 28 sen to RM54.72 while Heineken lost 18 sen to RM16.86 and Nestle 16 sen lower at RM76.80.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM31 to RM2,209 per tonne, the lowest since September 2015.
Among the plantations, United Plantations fell the most, down 20 sen to RM26.80 with 102,300 shares done while KL Kepong lost 12 sen to RM23.18, PPB Group four sen to RM16.40 and IOI Corp two sen to RM4.36. However, Sime Darby rise 12 sen to RM7.57 and pushed the KLCI up 1.29 points.
Oil prices recovered from two-month lows as a brief halt in Iraqi crude loadings threatened to tighten supplies. US light crude oil rebounded 60 cents to US$45.36 and Brent added 73 cents to US$46.98. SK Petro rose three sen to RM1.43 but Petronas Chemicals fell 11 sen to RM6.52 and wiped out 1.5 points, Petronas Gas fell 28 sen to RM22.30 and Petronas Dagangan four sen lower at RM23.56.
Tenaga rose nine sen to RM14.24 and pushed the KLCI up 0.57 of a point, Genting Malaysia two sen higher at RM4.30, MISC was flat at RM7.40 while Genting Bhd shed two sen to RM8.20. UMW lost 13 sen to RM5.49.
As for finance and banks, HLFG rose four sen to RM15, RHB Bank added three sen to RM5.15, Public Bank two sen to RM19.36 but CIMB fell two sen to RM4.38, Hong Leong Bank lost four sen to RM16.40 and AmBank five sen to RM4.36.
AirAsia rose eight sen to RM2.71.
Among the telcos, Maxis fell nine sen to RM6, Digi and Telekom were flat at RM4.75 and RM6.76 while Axiata gained two sen to RM5.52.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.46% to 16,095.65;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.65% to 21,224.74;
CSI 300 added 2.18% to 3,273.18;
Shanghai’s Composite Index added 1.82% to 3,049.38;
Shenzhen Composite added 1.2% to 2,025.02;
Hang Seng China Enterprise added 1.75% to 8,855.31;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.63% to 8,841.46;
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.14% to 1,991.23; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.69% to 2,896.12.
Spot gold rose 60 cents to US$1,356.
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