KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips eked out slim gains at midday on Wednesday, propped up by MISC and Maxis as investors stayed cautious due to geoploitical concerns.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up just 0.62 of a point or 0.04% to 1,762.70. Turnover was 745.49 million shares valued at RM646.17mil. There were 294 gainers, 290 losers and 446 counters unchanged.
The ringgit rose against the US dollar but slipped against the ther key currencies. It rose 0.02% to 4.2970 against the greenback, slipped 0.04% to the pound sterling at 5.5570 and was 0.05% lower to the Singapore unit at 3.1114. It shed 0.01% to the euro to 4.8797.
Southeast Asian markets were largely range-bound on Wednesday as tensions brewing on the Korean peninsula kept investor sentiment subdued as they awaited further clues on the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy, Reuters reported.
A holiday in the United States and a lack of market catalysts muted Asian trading, although minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting due later in the day could signal how committed it was to raising rates again this year and any detail on plans to wind back its massive balance sheet, the wire report said.
At Bursa Malaysia, MISC rose seven sen to RM7.41 and added 0.51 of a point to the KLCI. IHH Healthcare gained three sen to RM5.88, Genting Malaysia gained three sen to RM5.65, Genting Bhd
two sen higher at RM9.36 Tenaga was flat at RM14.10.
As for telcos, Maxis gained five sen to RM5.54 and added 0.64 of a point to the index. Digi was flat at RM5 while Axiata and Telekom fell three sen to RM4.74 and RM6.61.
Among the banks, AmBank rose four sen to RM5.04, Public Bank gained two sen to RM20.32, CIMB and RHB Bank added one sen each to RM6.52 and RM5.07, Maybank was flat at RM9.65 but Hong Leong Bank lost 10 sen to RM15.64.
Aeon Credit was the star on Wednesday after announcing its strong first quarter results. It rose 58 sen to RM19.88,
Insurer Allianz extended its gains, rising 50 sen to RM13.50 and BHIC seven sen up at RM2.27.
Among the tech-related stocks, MPI added eight sem to RM13.38 but Globetronics fell 11 sen to RM6.
Among the consumer stocks, Nestle added 48 sen to RM84.50 with 700 shares done while Kawan Food's proposed bonus issue went down wellk with investors as its share price climved eight sen to RM5.03.
However, BAT fell 32 sen to RM42.96 and UMW 13 sen lower at RM5.71 and Ajinomoto 12 sen down to RM24.04.
UMW gave up part of the recent gains, faling 13 sen to RM5.71 after its distribution in specie of UMW Oil and Gas stocks went ex.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM4 to RM2,512 per tonne. Batu Kawan fell 10 sen to RM18.82 with 400 shares done, KL Kepong lost six sen to RM24.82, PPB Group slipped four sen to RM16.90 while IOI Corp was flat at RM4.46,
US light crude oil dipped nine cents to US$46.98 and Brent was five cents lower at US$49.56. Petronas Dagangan fell 12 sen to RM24.04, Petronas Chemicals four sen lower at RM7.10 but Petronas Gas gained four sen to RM18.54.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.14% to 20,003.42;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.35% to 25,478.85;
CSI 300 gained 0.34% to 3,632.13;
Shanghai’s Composite Index added 0.24%to 3,190.34;
Hang Seng China Enterprise added 0.34% to 10,340.85;
Taiwan’s Taiex inched up 0.09% to 10,357.59
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1% to 2,382.98; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.47% to 3,226.39.
Spot gold gained US$4.45 to US$1,227.86 per troy ounce.
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