Late selling of Petronas Gas, Sime trims KLCI's hard-earned gains

KUALA LUMPUR: Late selling of Sime Darby and Petronas Gas trimmed the FBM KLCI's gains amid a firmer broader market on Tuesday but trading value perked up compared with recent days.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up just 0.27 of a point or 0.02% to 1,655.67. Turnover was 2.77 billion shares valued at RM2.01bil. There were 462 gainers, 369 losers and 386 counters unchanged.

Most key Asian markets closed higher led by Japan's Nikkei 225 which was up 0.95%, with the semiconductor sector tracking Wall Street gains, though trading remained thin ahead of the domestic earnings season. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.34%, China's Shanghai Compsite 0.45% and Southj Korea;s Kospi 0.39% while Singapore's STI advanbcxed 0.47%.

At Bursa, Sime Plantation rose 12 sen to RM4.78 and lifted the KLCI by 1.44 points while PPB Group was unchanged at RM18.66, KL Kepong lost two sen to RM23.68 and IOI Corp three sen to RM4.21.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM18 to RM2,001 per tonne, the highest since June 24.

Genting Malaysia rose in active trade, up nine sen to RM3.45 and adding 0.93 of a point to the KLCI. 

However, JP Morgan Asia Pacific Equity Research said in its July 15 note it was maintaining its negative view of GentingM on expectations of higher tax, lower promotional spends and normalising hurting earnings in 2019.

GentingM's parent, Genting gained six sen to RM6.65 as JP Morgan Research had advised investors to have exposure to the stock.

Tenaga rose eight sen to RM13.82 and added 0.79 of a point as analysts stayed positive on the power giant as they did not expect regulatory reforms to have much impact.

Sime Darby lost six sen to RM2.18 and erased 0.71 of a point, IHH four sen lower at RM5.76 and Press Metal lost five sen to RM4.45.

Telcos traded higher with Maxis up four sen to RM5.67, Axiata three sen to RM5.13 and Digi one sen to RM4.99.

Among the banks, Public Bank ended eight sen lower at RM22.80, AmBank shed four sen to RM4.29, CIMB one sen to RM5.19, HL Bank two sen to RM18.32 while Maybank was flat at RM8.82 and RHB Bank edged up one sen to RM5.70.

US light crude oil was cunanged at US$56.22 while Brent dipped nine cents to US$63.17.

As for Petronas stocks, Petronas Gas fell 30 sen to RM16.60 and wiped out 1.03 points on late selling pressure. Petronas Chemical shed one sen to RM7.69 and Petronas Dagangan two sen lower at RM24.28. Dialog eased two sen to RM3.47.

Egg producer LTKM surged 18 sen to RM1.32 after managing director Datuk Tan Kok and his family have offered to take the company private at RM1.35 a share.

MBM Resources was the top gainer, up 27 sen to RM3.23 with nearly five million shares done. The company recently announced a major revamp in its board of directors following its AGM on May 29 to put the auto parts maker on a stronger footing.

Green Packet-WB was the most active with 141.85 million units done, ending unchanged at 12.5 sen. Its shares rose two sen to 52.5 sen.

MyEG rose seven sen to RM1.68 and Excel Force five sen higher at 70.5 sen in active trade.

The ringgit weakened against the US dollar by 0.1% to 4.1175. However, the local unit gained 0.18% aganst the pound sterling to 5.1175, adding 0.2% against the euro to 4.6045 and advanced 0.15% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0195.