KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata, which was recently upgraded by BNP Paribas, extended its gains at midday on Tuesday and underpinned the FBM KLCI's gains.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 6.49 points or 0.4% to 1,677.80. Turnover was 797.80 million shares valued at RM747.78mil. There were 300 gainers, 320 losers and 346 counters unchanged.
BNP Paribas recently upgraded Axiata to a Buy with a target price of RM5.59 while Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral with a target price of RM5.
Hong Kong stocks rose on Tuesday morning thanks to strength in resources shares as U.S President Donald Trump's trade protectionist stance dented the dollar and tempered concerns over capital outflows, Reuters reported.
The Hang Seng index added 0.3% to 22,969.38 while Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.4% to 9,769.37.
China stocks were roughly flat from two-week highs set in the previous session amid renewed debt worries after Beijing reported a significantly larger fiscal deficit in 2016, it reported.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar by 0.11% to 4.4353 from the previous close of 4.4400. It however fell against the pound sterling to 5.5481 from 5.5163 and slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.1294 from 3.1260 and declined against the Euro to 4.7694 and 4.7616.
Axiata rose 14 sen to RM4.86 and pushed the KLCI up 2.07 points. Maxis rose four sen to RM6.03, Digi added one sen to RM4.93 but Telekom fell three sen to RM6.13.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM48 to RM3,144 per tonne. PPB Group added 16 sen to RM16.28, IOI Corp gained RM4.48, KL Kepong added two sen to RM24.26 while Sime Darby was flat at RM8.70.
Burn-in tester KESM rallied 22 sen to RM10.26 and MPI added eight sen to RM7.96.
Among the finance and banks, HLFG rose 16 sen to RM14.96, CIMB and RHB Bank three sen higher at RM4.91 each, Hong Leong Bank two sen higher at RM13.20. Maybank one sen to RMRM8.29 and Public Bank was flat at RM20.16.
UMW Oil and Gas rose three sen to 71 sen and it was the most active with 17.13 million shares done, recovering slightly from the recent sell-off.
AirAsia added two sen to RM2.46 after it refuted refuted reports linking it to a Rolls-Royce plc bribery case, as the low-cost carrier said it has had no dealings or transactions with the United Kingdom engine maker.
As for consumer stocks, BAT jumped RM1.04 to RM45.46 but Dutch Lady
fell 22 sen to RM54.66 and Heineken six sen lower at RM15.90.
US light crude oil rose 24 cents to US$52.99 and Brent added 27 cents to US$55.50. Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM7.17, Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM23.38 but Petronas Gas fell four sen to RM20.16.
US spot gold fell US$1.39 to US$1,216.84.
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