KUALA LUMPUR: Late buying of Hong Leong Bank and AmBank helped push the FBM KLCI firmly into the positive zone at the close on Wednesday, tracking the improved investor sentiment at the key Asian markets.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 6.08 points or 0.35% to 1,768.16. Turnover was 1.49 billion shares valued at RM1.69bil. There were 420 gainers, 361 losers and 437 counters unchanged.
The ringgit was flat against the US dollar at 4.2980. However, it rose 0.21% against the pound sterling to 5.5435 and gained 0.1% to the Singapore dollar at 3.1066 while it advanced 0.15% to thew euro at 4.8723.
Hong Kong shares rebounded on Wednesday following the previous session's slump, helped by consumer and financial stocks and as index heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd bounced from a seven-week low, Reuters reported.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.5% to 25,521.97, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.7% to 10,380.73.
At Bursa Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank, which had been coming under some profit taking lately, surged 56 sen to RM16.30 and pushed the KLCI up 2.07 points.
AmBank rebounded 11 sen to RM5.11 and added 0.56 of a point, Public Bank gained four sen to RM20.34, Maybank and RHB Bank one sen higher at RM9.66 and RM5.07 while CIMB was flat at RM6.51. Insurer Allianz jumped 50 sen to RM13.50.
IHH Healthcare gained 11 sen to RM5.96 and nudged the KLCI up 1.54 points. MISC gained six sen to RM7.40, Tenaga two sen higher at RM14.12 while Hap Seng Consolidated was up eight sen to RM9.20.
Genting Malaysia and Genting Bhd
gained four sen each to RM5.66 and RM9.38.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM28 to RM2,537 per tonne. As for plantation stocks, PPB Group, IOI Corp and Sime Darby were flat at RM16.94, RM4.46 and RM9.51 respectively. KL Kepong fell four sen to RM24.84.
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday, ending their longest bull-run in over five years, as climbing OPEC exports and a stronger dollar turned sentiment more bearish. US light crude oil fell 69 cents to US$46.38 and Brent was down 68 cents to US$48.93.
Petronas Gas rose 10 sen to RM18.60, Petronas lost six sen to RM24.10 and Petronas Chemicals shed three sen to RM7.11.
Among the telcos, Maxis edged up one sen to RM5.50, Digi was flat at RM5 while Axiata shed one sen to RM4.76 and Telekom two sen lower at RM6.62.
Magni-Tech was among the top losers, down 17 sen to RM7.38 on profit taking.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.25% to 20,081.63;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.52% to 25,521.97;
CSI 300 jumped 1.10% to 3,659.68;
Shanghai’s Composite Index gained 0.76% to 3,207.13;
Hang Seng China Enterprise rose 0.73% to 10,380.73;
Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.55% to 10,404.79;
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.33% to 2,388.35; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index jumped 1.17% to 3,248.71.
Spot gold fell US$4.78 to US$1,218.64.
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