KUALA LUMPUR: Fund nibbling of CIMB, Maybank and Genting Malaysia enabled the FBM KLCI to close on a firmer note on Wednesday but Iskandar Waterfront City (IWC) and Ekovest retreated as investors were quick to lock in gains.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 2.35 points or 0.13% to 1,757.27. Turnover was 2.18 billion shares valued at RM2.29bil. There were 406 gainers, 383 losers and 449 counters unchanged.
A weak US dollar combined with upbeat Chinese data to lift emerging market and Asian shares to levels not seen in more than two years and global stocks to an all-time high on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
With the US dollar near 10-month lows, there has been an indirect loosening of financial conditions for emerging markets which also serves to support riskier assets such as equities.
The ringgit fell 0.04% to the US dollar at 4.2865 but eked out a 0.01% gain to the pound sterling at 5.5842 and advanced 0.08% to the Singapore dollar at 3.1319 while it was little changed against the euro at 4.9415.
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rose 70 sen to RM59.10, BAT gained 60 sen to RM43.60 while Ajinomoto rose 30 sen to RM25.76.
CIMB rose nine sen to RM6.42 and added 1.38 points to the KLCI while Maybank gained four sen to RM9.64 and nudged the index up 0.72 of a point. RHB Bank added three sen to RM5.07 while Public Bank was flat at RM20.36. Hong Leong Bank lost 10 sen to RM15.70 and AmBank nine sen lower at RM5.01.
Genting Malaysia rose seven sen to RM5.82, IHH Healthcare four sen higher RM5.95 but Tenaga fell four sen to RM14.12. Genting B hd lost 11 sen to RM9.34 and erased 0.71 of a point.
As for telcos, Axiata gained three sen to RM4.68, Digi two sen higher at RM4.79, Maxis shed one sen to RMRM5.56 and Telekom six sen lower at RM6.39.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM10 to RM2,523 per tonne.
Among the plantations, Sime Darby amd IOI Corp were flat at RM9.55 and RM4.49, PPB Group fell 12 sen to RM16.72 while KL Kepong gained two sen to RM24.72.
US light crude oil rose 21 cents to US$46.61 and Brent gained 29 cents to US$49.13. Petronas Gas added eight sen to RM18.86, Petronas Chemicals rose three sen to RM6.94 while Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM23.70.
IWC fell eight sen to RM1.46 with 110.70 million shares done as investors took profit after the hefty gains on Tuesday.
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 lost four sen to RM1.13 with 46 million shares done after the run-up the previous day.
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.
Lotte Chemical Titan was unchanged at RM6.41. When it made its debut on July 11, the reprice IPO price was RM6.50 from the earlier proposed RM8.
However, its call warrnas fell with LCTitan-CC tumbling 29 sen to 26 sen.
Tech related stocks were aso among the losers with Pentamaster down 19 sen to RM3.43 and KESM lost 14 sen to RM16.06.
Prestariang fell 19 sen to RM2.19 on profit taking when it resumed traing after a one-day rally. It aims to raise over RM1bil from the capital market, within six to nine months, to realise its main transformation agenda for its technology platform and to implement the integrated National Immigration Control System (SKIN).
CIMB Equities Research is neutral on Prestariang after its 70% owned 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. However, it has an Add call on the company with a target price of RM3.
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