KUALA LUMPUR: Fund buying of banks and Petronas Chemicals helped the FBM KLCI advance nearly seven points towards the key 1,700 level at midday on Friday but the surprisingly weak trade data could impact sentiment.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 6.69 points or 0.4% to 1,694.89. Turnover was 991.97 million shares valued at RM1.03bil. The broader market turned cautious with 383 losers to 301 gainers and 336 counters unchanged.
It was announced at midday Malaysia’s January 2016 exports fell 2.8% to RM61.9bil from a year ago, which was a disappointment when compared with a survey of a 2.5% increase. On a month-on-month basis, exports also fell RM6.4bil (-9.4%) from RM68.3bil.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 4.1315 from the previous close of 4.1345 but weakened against the pound sterling and Singapore dollar. It fell to 5.8477 to the pound from 5.8154 while it eased to 2.9876 to the Singapore unit from 2.9678.
Reuters reported the US dollar was on the defensive against its peers on Friday after soft service sector employment data dampened expectations the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates soon, looking to US non-farm payrolls later in the session for possible relief.
At Bursa Malaysia, Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM18.80 and added 0.91 point to the KLCI, RHB Cap 12 sen to RM5.68, CIMB 11 sen to RM4.61, Hong Leong Bank and AmBank 10 sen each to RM13.28 and RM4.52 while Maybank eked out a one sen gain to RM8.75.
Among consumer stocks, Nestle was up 80 sen to RM75 with just 200 shares done, Carlsberg gained 20 sen to RM12.80 but BAT fell 36 sen to RM56.92.
AirAsia continuing its winning run for the fifth day, up two sen to RM1.70, AirAsia X
and its warrants added one sen each to 29.5 sen and 13 sen.
US light crude oil rose 21 cents to US$34.78 and Brent eight cents to US$37.15.
Petronas Chemicals rose eight sen to RM7 and Petronas Gas flat at RM22.40 but Petronas Dagangan lost 32 sen to RM24.46. SK Petro rose one sen to RM2.09. Petron was down 11 sen to RM5.27.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM17 to RM2,518 per tonne. PPB Group added 10 sen to RM16.42, KL Kepong fell four sen to RM23.96, Sime shed one sen to RM7.89 and IOI Corp two sen to RM4.79.
China stocks had mixed performance on Friday morning, as small-caps tumbled on supply fears but banking shares jumped, fuelling speculation that government-backed investors helped stabilise the market ahead of a key meeting by China's parliament, Reuters reported.
But the Shenzhen market, home to China's smaller listed companies, tanked 2.6%, reflecting a broader sell-off in small-caps.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.12% to 16,939.93;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.61% to 20,063.53;
CSI 300 added 0.41% to 3,070.85;
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 0.49% to 2,845.87;
Shenzhen Composite skidded 2.61% to 1,712.26;
Hang Seng China Enterprise rose 1.38% to 8,506.39;
Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.33% to 8,640.52;
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.09% to 1,956.35; and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 1.36% to 2,825.58.
Spot gold fell US$1.78 to US$1,262.47.
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