KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) and Malayan Bank Bhd (Maybank) underpinned the FBM KLCI firm performance on Friday amid a mixed broader market while the ringgit continued to strengthen.
At 5pm, the FBM-KLCI was up 2.79 points to 1,683.09. There were 441 gainers, 360 losers and 378 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
Turnover was at 1.492 billion shares valued at RM1.395bil.
The ringgit closed higher against the key currencies. It ended up 4.0188 against the US dollar. The US dollar remained on tenterhooks on Friday ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s much anticipated speech that some believe could provide clarity on whether the US interest rates will rise this year.
Overnight, US stocks ended slightly lower as investors were reluctant to make big bets the day before Yellen’s speech that will be picked apart for clues to the central bank’s next rate move.
On Bursa Malaysia, consumer stocks dominated the gainers’ list. BAT was the top gainer, up 54 sen to RM50.38, Ajinomoto 46 sen to RM14.50 and Padini added 33 sen to RM2.96.
TNB was one the mover among the KLCI stocks as its gains of 16 sen to RM14.90 pushed the 30-stock index up 1.498 points.
Maybank, which has a weightage of 7.79 of the index, added 10 sen to RM8 nudging the index up 1.66 points. Genting Malaysia rose 10 sen to RM4.40, contributing 0.9851 points to the index.
IHH Healthcare fell 13 sen to RM6.52, pushing the index down by 1.7753 points while Genting Bhd shed 18 sen to RM8.03 dragging down the index by 1.198 points.
Among the banks, Public Bank rose 4 sen to RM19.70, CIMB Group lost 1 sen to RM4.70 while Hong Leong Bank was down 4 sen to RM13.10.
Reuters reported that oil prices fell on Friday after the Saudi energy minister tempered expectations of strong market intervention by producers during talks next month, and as analysts pointed to an ongoing supply overhang that was weighing on markets.
International benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading at US$49.46 per barrel at 0658 GMT, down 21 cents from their previous close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 10 cents at US$47.23 a barrel.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is down 1.18% to 16,360.71;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 0.41% to 22,909.54;
Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.06% to 3,070.31;
Taiwan’s Taiex up 0.18% to 9,131.72;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.27% to 2,037.50 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index is down 0.67% to 2,857.65 points.
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