Maybank, CIMB, IHH lead KLCI rebound

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips kicked off the fourth quarter on a firm note on Tuesday as the FBM KLCI recouped nearly all of its previous session's losses on fund nibbling of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 11.77 points or 0.71% to 1,664.32. Turnover was 735.82 million shares valued at RM711.20mil. There were 355 gainers, 318 losers and 350 counters unchanged.

Asian shares shrugged off a sluggish start and pushed higher on Tuesday, with Japanese markets leading the way after an upbeat US manufacturing survey bolstered the dollar, Reuters reported. China markets were closed for the week.

The ringgit slipped against the greenback to  4.1237 at midday from 4.1143 while it firmed up against the other key currencies. It rose to 5.2945 against the pound sterling from 5.2973 and strengthened to 3.0136 against the Singapore dollar from 3.0138 and it was 4.6173 to the Euro from 4.6218.

Among the banks, Maybank rose 10 sen to RM7.60 and added 1.67 points to the KLCI while CIMB gained seven sen to RM4.78 and nudged the index up 1.02 points. Public Bank rose eight sen to RM19.90 and Hong Leong Bank four sen higher at RM13.16.

As for the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare rose 11 sen to RM6.44 and pushed the KLCI up 1.51 points, Tenaga Nasional rose two sen to RM14.32, Genting Bhf six sen to RM7.99 and Genting Malaysia five sen to RM4.60.

Cash-strapped Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd fell to its historic low when it resumed trading, skidding three sen to 9.5 sen in active trade of 52.3 milion shares done.

 Perisai and its joint venture partner, Emas Offshore Ltd (EOL) have received an indicative offer of financing from a financial institution. It faces the redemption of its S$125mil (RM377mil) bond which matured yesterday after noteholders voted to reject its restructuring plan. 

US light crude oil fell 21 cents to US$48.60 and Brent was down 13 cents to RM50.76. Petronas Chemicals rose two sen to RM6.67 and Petronas Gas flat at RM21.84 but Petronas Dagangan shed two sen to RM23.84. SapuraKencana added four sen to RM1.61.

Poultry company Lay Hong jumped 36 sen to RM10.90.

Among the consumer stocks, Nestle rose the best 42 sen to RM79.28 but F&N fell 44 sen to RM23.62.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM50 to RM2,586 per tonne. As for plantations, Far East rose 27 sen to RM7.90, TAHP added 16 sen to RM6.34, KL Kepong 12 sen up to RM24.10. IOI  Corp six sen higher at RM4.51 while PPB Group was flat at RM16.18. Genting Plantations fell 30 sen to RM10.70.

As for telcos, Axiata added six sen to RM5.28, Digi rose five sen to RM5.03, Maxis gained two sen to RM6.18 amd Telekom Malaysia fell one sen to RM6.77.
Among the key regional markets,

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.79% to 16,729.28;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.02% to 23,590;

Hang Seng China Enterprise added 0.37% to 9,719.54;

Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.3% to 9,261.74;

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.44% to 2,052.71 and 

Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.16% to 2,875.47.

Spot gold fell US$1.19 to US$1,310.41.