KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank and Hong Leong Bank underpinned the FBM KLCI’s early advance on Wednesday while the Inari Amertron
was in focus after its record earnings for FY ended June 30.
At 9.55am, the KLCI was up 0.95 of a point to 1,775.17. Turnover was 542.60 million shares valued at RM288.73mil, reflecting the lower quality buying. There were 251 gainers, 220 losers and 295 counters unchanged.
The ringgit weakened 0.06% against the US dollar at 4.282 from the previous day’s close of 4.279.
The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, after getting a boost the previous day as investors adjusted positions ahead of a global central bankers' conference later this week, Reuters reported.
Oil prices fell, squeezed between concerns of oversupply, sparked by rising Libya output, and fears of reduced future investment in the industry, according to the wire report.
Brent crude futures fell 26 cents to US$51.61 per barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 20 cents to US$47.63.
At Bursa Malaysia, RHB Bank rebounded 20 sen to RM5.08 after the merger talks with AMMB were called off due to valuations issue. AmBank added five sen to RM4.75, off the early high of RM4.89.
Hong Leongh Bank, which is due to announce its results, rose 18 sen to RM15.74.
PPB Group rose 24 sen to RM16.86 with just 100 shares done.
RCE Capital added nine sen to RM1.74 after posting a firm set of earnings.
Inari rose 12 sen to RM2.62 while its warrants, WB added 11 sen to RM1.81 and call warrants CZ added 9.5 sen to 56.5 sen.
Inari Amertron's full-year earnings ending June 30, 2017 hit record levels once again with 32% year-on year growth to RM193mil driven by both higher revenue and margin expansion.
HLFG fell the most, down 30 sen to RM16.70 with just 100 shares done.
Profit taking saw F&N losing 20 sen to RM24.40, Focus Lumber lost 11 sen to RM1.61, EITA 11 sen to RM1.69 and BP Plastic 10 sen down to RM1.26.
Dagang Nexchange (DNex) fell 2.5 sen to 50 sen in active trade while its warrants WD shed 1.5 sen to 25 sen.
CIMB Equities Research is maintaining its Add and 75 sen sum-of-parts based target price for DNex. It said that new contracts for vehicle entry permit (VEP) and road charges (RC) systems at the Thai borders, and higher crude oil prices are potential rerating catalysts for the stock.
Dutaland gained four sen to 54.5 sen.
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