Tenaga, glove makers shore up KLCI as sentiment perks up

KUALA LUMPUR: A rebound in Tenaga Nasional and glove makers share prices helped under grid the FBM KLCI’s early rebound on Wednesday as key Asian markets advanced on hopes of a US-China trade resolution.

At 9.07am, the FBM KLCI was up 6.38 points or 0.38% to 1,679.14. Turnover was 154.16 million shares valued at RM56.33mil. There were 220 gainers, 60 losers and 128 counters unchanged.

Asian shares inched up, supported by optimism the United States and China can strike a trade deal to avoid an all-out confrontation that will severely disrupt the global economy, Reuters reported.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3%.

Wall Street's S&P 500 gained 0.97% on Tuesday, extending its gains from 20-month lows touched around Christmas to more than 9%.

However, Kenanga Research said the KLCI may continue to trend down, given the poor signals from key momentum indicators the previous day, but may find support at 1,615 (S1) or 1,600 (S2) next. 

“Should the benchmark index close above the 1,700 (R1) level, we see a potential move towards the 1,750 (R2) level next,” it said.

Nestle rose RM1 to RM144.40, F&N 22 sen to RM33.32 while Carlsberg gained 14 sen to RM19.54.

PPB Group gained 20 sen to RM17.38 in thin trade while Genting Plantations rose 14 sen to RM9.84 and Sime Plantation 12 sen to RM5.04. 

Petronas Dagangan and Tenaga advanced 20 sen each to RM26.10 and RM13.84 while glove makers rebounded with Hartalega up 18 sen to RM5.33 and Top Glove 15 sen to RM5.13.

Nadi Gagasan, which made its debut on the ACE Market on Tuesday, slipped one sen to 29.5 sen with 3.3 million shares done. Its offer price was 30 sen.

Hong Leong Bank fell 34 sen to RM20.34, Petronas Chemical 29 sen to RM8.70 while Allianz lost 10 sen to RM13.50, MAHB and UMW four sen each to RM7.90 and RM5.45. 

MPI gave up 14 sen to RM10 after the recent advance.