KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue chips rose at the start of trade on Wednesday, as investor confidence was underpinned by the overnight rally on Wall Street and fresh corporate news.
At 9.01am, the FBM KLCI was up 4.26 points to 1,792.69. Turnover was 125.56 million shares valued at RM34.35mil. There were 195 gainers, 29 losers and 110 counters unchanged.
JF Apex Research said after the KLCI closed at a fresh record high on Tuesday 1,788.43, "the bullish US market could lead the KLCI to fresh highs. We expect the KLCI to remain positive and could re-test the resistance of 1,800".
Petronas Gas was the top gainer, up 50 sen to RM21.50 while MPHB added 13 sen to RM4.09 and UMW 10 to RM14.40.
Among consumer stocks, BAT added 36 sen to RM65.14 and Carlsberg gained 10 sen to RM15.58.
As for plantations, PPB Group rose 11 sen to RM13.70 while IOI Corpextended its gains as trading interest was galvanised by its demerger exercise.
