KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed firmer on Tuesday, shored up by some buying of Genting, MISC and Tenaga Nasional though the broader market reflected the absence of strong leads from fund managers ahead of a two-day policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 1.35 points or 0.08% to 1,763.34. Turnover was 1.68 billion shares valued at RM1.62bil. The broader market was weaker again with decliners beating advancers 493 to 295 and 443 counters were unchanged.
Stock market data showed foreign funds net buying shrunk to only RM4.01mil though this time local retailers were taking the lead with net buying at RM6.95mil. Local institutions were net sellers at RM10.96mil.
However, most Southeast Asian stock markets outperformed the KLCI. Reuters reported these investors are betting that subdued US inflation and political strains in Washington would limit any rate moves for the rest of the year.
The ringgit weakened against the US dollar, pound sterling, Singapore dollar and the euro. It fekk 0.08% to the US dollar at 4.2813, weakened 0.1% to the pound stering at 5.5777 and slipped 0.04% to the Singapore dollart at 3.1448. It fell 0.12% to the euro to 4.9900.
Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia pledged to curb exports from next month and Opec called on several members to boost compliance with output cuts to help to rein in oversupply and tackle flagging prices, Reuters reported.
US light crude oil and Brent jumped 50 cents each to US$46.84 and RM49.10. Refiners took the lead again with Hengyuan up 24 sen to RM6.14 and Petron 15 sen higher at RM8.35.
Petronas Dagangan rose 14 sen to RM23.84 and Petronas Gas eight sen higher at RM18.88 but Petronas Chemicals shed four sen to RM6.96.
Genting Malaysia rose eight sen to RM6.13 and added 0.81 of a point to the KLCI while Genting Bhd
added eight sen to RM9.59 and nudged the index up 0.52 of a point. MISC gained six sen to RM7.44 while Tenaga gained four sen to RM14.22.
As for telcos, Telekom rose five sen to RM6.38, Axiata was up two sen to RM4.71 and Maxis edged up one sen to RM5.56 but Digi fell six sen to RM4.74 and erased 0.79 of a point.
Among the banks, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank rose four sen each to RM20.42 and RM15.84 while CIMB and AmBank edged up one sen each to RM6.35 and RM5.01 but Maybank fell one sen to RM9.62 and RHB Bank lost four sen to RM5.05. HLFG lost 26 sen to RM16.92.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery jumped RM73 to RM2,626 per tonne, the highest since May 23.
Far East rose 15 sen to RM8.85. Howevewr, the KLCI-linked plantations were lacklustre as Sime Darby and IOI Corp were flat at RM9.55 and RM4.48, PPB Group lost two sen to RM16.78 and KL Kepong lost four sen to RM24.72.
As for the tech and semiconductor related stocks, SAM Engineering rose 34 sen to RM8.30, Pentamaster 29 sen to RM4 and Vitrox 17 sen higher at RM4.15. However, KESM fell 10 sen to RM16.
Iskandar Waterfront City fell 13 sen to RM1.33 in active trade with 36.54 million shares done.
Karex attracted retail interest, climbing 11 sen to RM1.67 with 2.16 million shares done. Affin Hwang Capital Research continues to like Karex’s long-term value proposition as one of the top manufacturers in a growing condom market, with a strategy to extract further value from its budding brands.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 19,955.20;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.02% to 26,852.05;
CSI 300 lost 0.64% to 3,719.56;
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 0.21% to 3,243.69;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.35% to 10,782.74;
Taiwan’s Taiex edged up 0.02% to 10,463.15;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.47% to 2,439.90 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.51% to 3,327.83.
Spot gold fell US$3.10 to US$1,252.20.
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