KUALA LUMPUR: Late buying of Axiata and buying of Maybank pushed the FBM KLCI just into the positive zone on Friday while counters linked to Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo – Iskandar Waterfront City (IWC) and Ekovest – surged.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 0.16 point or 0.01% to 1,717.58. Turnover was 3.40 billion shares valued at RM3.19bil, reflecting the high trading volume over the week. The broader market firmed up with 471 gainers, 435 losers and 371 counters unchanged
China stocks ended flat on Friday, as initial excitement toward the country's annual parliamentary meeting petered out and investors turned cautious ahead of a likely US rate hike next week, Reuters said.
The ringgit rose 0.17% to 4.4528 against the US dollar from the previous close of 4.4605 while it climbed against the pound sterling to 5.4150 from 5.4231. It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1402 from 3.1400 and slipped against the Euro to 4.7237 from 4.7083.
KESM was the top gainer, surging 78 sen to RM10.80 after posting a strong set of earnings. MPI added 18 sen to RM10.08.
Among the consumer stocks, BAT rose 74 sen to RM48 and Dutch Lady
added 64 sen to RM57 while Ajinomoto rose 18 sen to RM15.
IW City hit limit-up in the morning, surging 52 sen to RM2.28 with 113.9 million shares. This was sharply above the reference price of RM1.50 in the proposed merger with major shareholder Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH).
Ekovest was the most active, up 16 sen to RM1.45 and Ekovest-WB gained 23 sen to RM1.24.
As for telcos, Axiata rose eight sen to RM4.73 and added 1.22 points to the KLCI while Digi and Telekom gained two sen each to RM5.10 and RM6.31 and Maxis edged up one sen to RM6.42.
Among the banks, Maybank rose four sen to RM8.77, Public Bank was flat at RM19.80, CIMB shed one sen to RM5.37, RHB Bank lost two sen to RM5.16 and Hong Leong Bank gave up four sen to RM13.42 and AmBank six sen lower at RM4.87.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM47 to RM2,792 per tonne. Sime Darby rose four sen to RM9.14, PPB Group gained two sen to RM16.70, KL Kepong was flat at RM24.38 while IOI Corp shed three sen to RM4.66.
Oil prices recovered a little on Friday after dropping to their lowest in more than three months, pressured by heavy oversupply despite OPEC-led production cuts, Reuters reported. US light crude rose 21 cents to US$49.49 and Brent added 18 cents to US$52.37.
Petronas Gas fell eight sen to RM19.60, Petronas Chemicals two sen lower at RM7.35 and Petronas Dagangan flat at RM24.30. Petron hit a speed bump, down 15 sen to RM5.83 and Shell gave up 10 sen to RM3.51.
Genting Malaysia lost eight sen to RM5.27 and erased 0.08 of a point from the KLCI, Genting Bhd added one sen to RM6.42 and Tenaga shed two sen to RM13.72.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.48% to 19,604.61;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.29% to 23,568.67;
CSI 300 inched up 0.03% to 3,427.89;
Shanghai’s Composite Index shed 0.12% to 3,212.76;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.26% to 10,069.10;
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.32% to 9,627.89;
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.3% to 2,097.35; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.47% to 3,133.35.
Spot gold fell US$4.18 to US$1,197.06.
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