KUALA LUMPUR: Local fund buying of Petronas-linked stocks, Sime Darby and Public Bank underpinned the FBM KLCI's rebound at midday on Tuesday as the index climbed nearly 11 points after the recent battering, aggravated by MSCI's move to reduce Malaysia's weightage.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 10.76 points or 0.66% to 1,631.97. Turnover was 924.95 million shares valued at RM728.01mil. There were 349 gainers, 315 losers and 348 counters unchanged.
Key Asian markets were mixed, with Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore in the positive zone while China was in the red.
China stocks edged lower in light trade on Tuesday morning amid heighted worries that Beijing might pull back on monetary stimulus while it steps up structural and financial reforms even as the economic recovery struggles to gain traction, Reuters reported.
But Hong Kong stocks pushed higher, encouraged by upbeat U.S. and Asian markets, and higher oil prices.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 4.0125 from 4.0273 the previous day, it advanced to 2.9369 against the Singapore dollar from 2.9429 and edged up against the Euro to 4.5412 from 4.5594. However, it slipped against the pound stelring ti 5.8118 from 5.7828.
US light crude oil rose 51 cents to US$48.23 and Brent gained 28 cents to US$49.25.
Petronas Gas rose 52 sen to RM21.44, Petronas Dagangan added 30 sen to RM23.02 and Petronas Chemicals 19 sen to RM6.41.SK Petro added two sen to RM1.60.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM21 to RM2,608 per tonne.
Plantation-property Sime Darby added 16 sen to RM7.42, IOI Corp five sen to RM4.17, KL Kepong fell 10 sen to RM23, and PPB Group four sen lower at RM15.74.
As for banks, Public Bank was the top gainer, up 12 sen to RM19.12, Maybank nine sen to RM8.54, CIMB added five sen to RM4.35 but AmBank lost three sen to RM4.44 and RHB Cap two sen to RM5.88.
Consumer stocks advanced, with Nestle up 70 sen to RM74.50, Dutch Lady
68 sen to RM55.88 and F&N 20 sen to RM23.60. Heneiken (formerly GAB) fell 18 sen to 18 sen to RM14.62.
Power giant Tenaga rose two sen to RM8.54, Genting Bhd eight sen to RM8.64 and MISC six sen to RM7.50.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.76% to 16,592.24;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.31% to 19,945.09;
CSI 300 shed 0.48% to 3,080.40;
Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.37% to 2,840.44;
Shenzhen Composite slipped 0.22% to 1,811.07;
Hang Seng China Enterprise gained 0.55% to 8,358.14;
Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.93% to 8,142.29;
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.01% to 1,967.76 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.15% to 2,767.53.
Spot gold rose US$5.37 to US$1,279.53.
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