KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional, Petronas Gas and Sime Darby helped extend the FBM KLCI’s gains for the second day on Tuesday despite the weaker overnight close on Wall Street.
At 9.06am, the KLCI was up 12.81 points or 0.77% to 1,683.71. Turnover was 203.42 million shares valued at RM78.28mil. There were 187 gainers, 109 losers and 189 counters unchanged.
Reuters reported Asian shares dragged their feet on Tuesday after a healthcare mega-merger failed to impress investors while the dollar held firm near an eight-month high as investors grew more convinced of a U.S. rate hike next month. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was almost flat while Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.1 percent after a long weekend.]
At Bursa Malaysia, Tenaga jumped 72 sen to a fresh high of RM14.14. CIMB Equities Research said Tenaga looks certain to win back investors’ confidence with the completion of the bidding exercise for 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) power assets with the sale of to China Nuclear Power Corporation.
Petronas Gas rose 42 sen to RM23.36, Sime Darby added eight sen to RM8.08.
Among the smaller cap stocks, Daibochi rose 25 sen to RM5.60, Upa 11 sen to RM1.96 and Kobay eight sen to RM2.53.
BAT fell the most, down 48 sen to RM58.20 while weaker earnings saw Pos Malaysia skid 15 sen to RM3.74.
Among plantations, Batu Kawan and PPB Group lost 10 sen each to RM17.40 and RM15.49 while KL Kepong shed eight sen to RM22.54.
MAHB was down eight sen to RM5.12.
US crude oil futures rose more than 1% in early Asian trading on Tuesday, after Saudi Arabia pledged to work toward oil price stability. US crude futures rose 32 cents or 0.77% to US$42.07 a barrel after hitting $42.18 a barrel earlier in the session. It finished down 15 cents at US$41.75 on Monday. Benchmark Brent futures for January contract settled up 17 cents at US$44.83 a barrel in the previous session.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
