KUALA LUMPUR: Fund nibbling of power giant Tenaga Nasional underpinned the FBM KLCI’s early advance on Thursday as investor sentiment perked up on Wall Street’s rebound and firm crude oil prices.
At 9.30am, the KLCI was up 0.88 of a point or 0.05% to 1,773.36. Turnover was 411.57 million shares valued at RM121.61mil. There were 250 gainers, 142 losers and 240 counters unchanged.
Asian shares ticked up on Thursday after US President Donald Trump and congressional leaders agreed to raise the government debt limit until December, eliminating the risk of a government shutdown for now, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6%.
US crude futures were US$49.12 per barrel and Brent traded at US$54.03 a barrel.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said stocks on the local front should be able to gain traction following bargain hunting activities on Wednesday.
“The KLCI may revisit 1,780, while trading interest on the broader market is likely to focus on commodities sector such as steel and oil and gas amid the recovering trend in crude oil prices,” it said.
Tenaga rose eight sen to RM14.48 and it was the top gainer among the KLCI stocks.
Econ Bhd jumped 18 sen to RM3.18 and its call warrants 6.5 sen higher at 24 sen.
Padini added 16 sen to RM4.41, SCGM 13 sen to RM3.01 and Lafarge 10 sen to RM5.65.
Southern Steel gained eight sen to RM2.18 and its loan stocks, SSteel-LB added seven sen to RM2.01. Hiap Teck Ventures added 0.5 sen to 42 sen.
Olympia rose two sen to 16.5 sen with 59 million shares done after it sold its stockbroking business Jupiter Securities for RM55mil to CIMB.
Olympia Industries will receive RM42.1mil for its portion of shares. Its total cost of investment in Jupiter Securities as of end-June stood at RM21.7mil.
Petronas Dagangan lost 10 sen to RM24.50 in thin trade, Genting Malaysia was six sen lower at RM5.90, WCT fell five sen to RM1.71 and Signature four sen to 86.5 sen. Top Glove and Paramount shed four sen each to RM5.64 and RM1.73.
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
