For April, the 30-stock index was up 9.46 points or 0.58% from a month ago.
KUALA LUMPUR: Fund buying of bank stocks Maybank and CIMB and power giant Tenaga Nasional enabled the FBM KLCI to end a volatile April on a firmer note on Tuesday.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 4.89 points or 0.3% to 1,642.29. Turnover was 2.36 billion shares valued at RM2.24bil. There were 326 gainers, 473 losers and 410 counters unchanged.
For April, the 30-stock index was up 9.46 points or 0.58% from a month ago. Year-to-date, the index is still down 2.86% and making Bursa Malaysia the worst performer among Asian markets.
Among the key Asian markets, Hong Kong shares ended weaker on Tuesday, dented by declines in property and energy stocks, as investors awaited fresh market stimulus after decent gains so far this year, Reuters reported.
The Hang Seng index closed 0.65% while the China Enterprises Index ended down 0.8% but China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.52% while Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.26%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.58% and Singapore's STI shed 0.04%.
Maybank rose 11 sen to RM9.25 and pushed the KLCI up 2.11 points, CIMB added seven sen to RM5.27, RHB Bank six sen to RM5.96 but Hong Leong Bank fell 10 sen to RM19.98 and Public Bank six sen lower at RM22.50.
Among the telcos, Digi rallied 11 sen to RM4.60 and added 1.49 points to the KLCI. Axiata shed one sen to RM3.97 and Maxis two sen lower at RM3.97.
Tenaga advanced eight sen to RM12.28, MISC 10 sen to RM6.90, MAHB seven sen to RM7.63 while Genting shed one sen to RM7.04 and GentingM shed five sen to RM3.18. IHH lost four sen to RM5.56. Sime Darby was four sen lower at RM2.32.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM4 to RM2,104 per tonne. IOI Corp gained three sen to RM4.51, Sime Plantation added one sen to RM5.16, KL Kepong and PPB Group were down four sen each to RM24.764 and RM18.76.
US light crude oil rose 35 cents to US$6385 and Brent gained 42 cents to US$72.46. Petronas Gas rose eight sen to RM17.68, Diaog and Petronas Chemical were flat at RM3.22 and RM9 while Petronas Dagangan shed two sen to RM24.18.
Among the consumer stocks, Carlsberg was the top gainer, up 76 sen to RM25.26, F&N was up 18 sen to RM34.90 and Ajinomoto 10 sen to RM17.60. BAT fell 30 sen to RM34.86.
Seacera extended its slide, falling 3.5 sen to 21 sen in active trade after it was classified a PN 17 company.
Ekovest lost 1.5 sen to 88 sen in active trade, continuing to lose ground from last week after announcing it was not involved in the Bandar Malaysia development.
The ringgit weakened against the key currencies in late trade, falling 0.02% against the US dollar to 4.1348; weakened 0.31% versus the pound sterling to 5.3662. It skidded 0.48% to the euro at 4.6357 and gave up 0.12% against the Singapore dollar to 3.0405.
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