KUALA LUMPUR: Most key Asian markets including Bursa Malaysia traded higher at the midday break on Friday, shrugging off the earlier cautious start, as sentiment perked up in line with the rebound in crude oil prices.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 3.54 points or 0.21% to 1,694.45. Turnover was 852.91 million shares valued at RM638.23mil. Decliners led advancers 382 to 279 while 318 counters were unchanged.
US light crude oil rose 89 cents to US$38.73 and Brent was up 78 cents to US$40.83, with US$40 seen as a psychological level.
Reuters reported the jump in crude oil prices was supported by fresh investment and a strong yuan, which makes fuel cheaper for Chinese importers, but analysts warned that any price rally was pre-mature as a global glut remained in place.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 4.0909 – strongest sincee mid-August 2015 – from 4.0960 the previous day. It slipped against the pound sterling and Singapore unit. It was at 5.8398 to the pound from 5.8246 while it slipped to 2.9741 to the Singapore dollar from 2.9669.
Malaysia's January industrial production rose 3.2 % from a year earlier due to growth in its manufacturing, mining and electricity sector, according to Reuters.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery also rebounded RM44 to RM2,590 as the recovery was underpinned by concerns about the El Nino’s impact on the output.
KL Kepong rose 24 sen to RM24.22 and PPB Group 18 sen to RM16.58 and SOP 14 sen to RM4.64 while IOI Corp gained 11 sen to RM4.93 while Sime was flat at RM7.85.
Gamuda-We warrants saw very active trade with 73.83 million units done on the first trading day, climbing 30 sen to 90 sen.
Maxis was the biggest mover among the KLCI stocks as it rose 12 sen to RM6.44 and pushed the KLCI up 1.51 points. Telekom gained six sen to RM6.60, Digi added two sen to RM4.96 and Axiata fell two sen to RM5.98.
Power giant Tenaga rose six sen to RM13.36 on news about a boost in consumer consumption due to the hot weather. Genting Bhd
added four sen to RM8.70 and Genting Malaysia flat at RM4.28. However, UMW lost 15 sen to RM6.98.
Consumer stocks were higher with Dutch Lady gaining RM1.20 to RM50.82 with 1,000 shares done while Carlsberg added 20 sen to RM13.52.
Among the banks, Public Bank fell 12 sen to RM18.52, CIMB fell two sen to RM4.61, Maybank added one sen to RM8.79 while Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM13.20. MBSB fell six sen to RM1.38 in active trade after its rights issue plan to raise up to RM2bil.
As for the oil and gas stocks, Petronas Dagangan fell 10 sen to RM24.48, Petronas Chemicals four sen lower to RM6.79 but Petronas Gas added six sen to RM22.34 and SK Petro one sen higher at RM2.12.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.09% to 16,868.30;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.75% to 20,133.78;
Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 0.25% to 2,797.84;
Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.44% to 8,698.90;
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.25% to 1,974.35 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.52% to 2,823.85.
Spot gold shed 55 cents to US$1,271.70.
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