KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group
led the FBM KLCI higher early Wednesday while Ekovest and Iskandar Waterfront City (IWC) rose in active trade on fresh corporate news and hopes.
At 9.47am, the KLCI was up 3.68 points or 0.21% to 1,758.60. Turnover was 502.84 million shares valued at RM307.28mil. There were 290 gainers, 190 losers and 272 counters unchanged.
The ringgit edged up 0.02% to 4.283 from the previous close of 4.284.
Oil prices fell after a rise in US crude inventories and ongoing high supplies from producer club OPEC revived concerns of a fuel supply overhang, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures fell 11 cents to US$48.73 per barrel at 0128 GMT while US light crude was down 12 cents to US$46.28.
The US dollar nursed losses on Wednesday after skidding to a 10-month low against a currency basket as the Republican failure to push through a stalled US healthcare bill raised fears about the rest of President Donald's Trump reform agenda, said the news wire.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, edged up 0.1% to 94.694 after falling as low as 94.476 on Tuesday, its lowest level since September 2016.
At Bursa Malaysia, CIMB rose 15 sen to RM6.48 with 721,600 shares done. BAT was the top gainer, up 18 sen to RM43.18 and FGV gained six sen to RM1.68 in active trade.
IWCity rose 11 sen to RM1.65 on speculation that it could now be a beneficiary of the Bandar Malaysia project.
On Tuesday, IWC’s shares soared 30 sen and were the most actively traded following news that the Dalian Wanda Group was said to be facing restrictions in funding for its offshore deals by the Chinese government.
Ekovest rose five sen to RM1.22 with 17.90 million shares while its warrants, WB added five sen to 89.5 sen.
Ekovest will receive another 30 acres, making it a total of 60 acres, for work involving the rehabilitation of the Gombak River that snakes through the city.
The project, which is part of the company’s Kuala Lumpur River City development, will see Ekovest rejuvenating and transforming a 2.2-km stretch of the river into a vibrant and liveable riverfront development.
Chip-maker MPI added 14 sen to RM13.80 and Vitrox nine sen to RM4.0 while MMSV gained seven sen to RM1.58.
Furniture maker Latitude Tree rose 11 sen to RM5.58 and Scientex six sen to RM8.70.
The call warrants of Lotte Chemical Titan were among the top losers. LCTitan-CC fell 29 sen to 26 sen, LCTitan-CD 8.5 sen to 26.5 sen and LCTitan-CE 6.5 sen to 46.5 sen.
Prestariang Bhd fell 17 sen to RM2.21, giving up most of the previous day’s gains.
CIMB Equities Research is neutral on Prestariang after its subsidiary Prestariang Skin Sdn Bhd (PSkin) signed a RM3.5bil, 15-year concession agreement with the Home Affairs Ministry to implement an integrated core immigration system known as SKIN.
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