KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips eked out slight gains, shored up by gains in Axiata Group and Maxis Bhd
at midday on Monday while the ringgit firmed up against some major currencies after the new forex measures.
At midday, the KLCI was up 0.65 point or 0.04% to 1,629.61 after a volatile session. Turnover was 580.40 million shares valued at RM381.08mil. The broader market reflected investors' cautious sentiment as decliners beat advancers 380 to 224 while 313 counters unchanged.
Only Malaysia and Singapore were in the positive territory at midday while key Asian markets were in the red after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following heavy defeat on constitutional referendum, raising political uncertainty in the euro zone.
Reuters reported Renzi's decision to quit deals a fresh blow to the European Union at a time when Italy, the euro zone's heavily indebted third-largest economy, is struggling to overcome a raft of crises.
The ringgit advanced against the US dollar to 4.4495, up 0.08% from last Friday's close of 4.4532 after the Financial Markets Committee (FMC) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) took measures to reduce ringgit speculation, minimise erosion of foreign reserves, and address market concerns over foreign currency risk management.
The ringgit rose to 3.1224 against the Singapore dollar from 3.1319 and firmed up against the Euro to 4.6940 from 4.7534. However, it slipped against the pound sterling to 5.6452 from 5.6209.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM27 to RM3,103 per tonne. Sime Darby rose four sen to RM8.17 and added 0.43 of a point to the KLCI while IOI Corp edged up one sen to RM4.39 but KL Kepong and PPB Group fell 12 sen each to RM23.76 and RM15.88.
Axiata and Maxis added four sen each to RM4.29 and RM6 nudged the KLCI up nearly one point, Digi and Telekom gained two sen each to RM4.97 and RM6.15.
Among the banks, Maybank rose two sen to RM7.87, Public Bank and CIMB Group shed two sen each to RM19.62 and RM4.65, RHB Bank lost three sen to RM4.73 and Hong Leong Bank fell 10 sen to RM13.22.
Oil prices fell more than 1% at midday, with US light crude oil down 57 cents to US$51.11 and Brent lost 56 cents to US$53.90 after last week's rally following Opec's move to curb their output.
Petronas Chemicals and Petronas Gas rose two sen each to RM6.90 and RM20.86 while Petronas Dagangan fell four sen to RM23.12. SapuraKencana gained one sen to RM1.53.
Tenaga Nasional rose two sen to RM14.02, Genting Bhd fell four sen to RM8.02 and Genting Malaysiua six sen lower at RM4.64.
Gadang-WB warrants surged on the first trading day, up 24.5 sen to 25 sen.
As for consumer stocks, Nestle rose 24 sen to RM76.24 while Dutch Lady, Heineken and BAT added 18 sen each to RM56.18, RM16.06 and RM44.64 respectively.
Spot gold fell US$1.33 to US$1,176.10 per ounce.
Reuters reported China stocks slumped on Monday morning, with the blue-chip index set for its biggest fall in six months after China's top securities regulator warned against "barbaric" share acquisitions, though small-caps were firm as the Shenzhen-Hong Kong investment link went live.
The CSI300 index fell 1.8% to 3,466.71 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3%, to 3,201.74.
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