KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips eked out marginal gains on Wednesday, underpinned by gains in Genting Bhd
and Petronas Chemicals but the overall market remained lacklutre, mittoring the mixed key Asian bourses.
Despite the firmer crude oil prices, funds were seen staying on the sidelines most of the day. However, late buying saw the FBM KLCI close on a positive note.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up just 0.7 point or 0.04% to 1,668.27. Turnover was 1.39 billion shares valued at RM1.58bil. There were 373 gainers, 403 losers and 412 counters unchanged.
Reuters reported Hong Kong shares fell on Wednesday, giving up some of the previous session's solid gains, as China's economic growth data did little to prop up fragile investor sentiment.
There was little surprise from China's third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data. The economy grew 6.7% from a year earlier, steady from the previous quarter, as increased government spending and a property boom offset stubbornly weak exports.
The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar, the Singapore unit and also Euro. It rose to 4.1868 against the greenback from 4.1923 and advanced against the Singapore dollar to 3.0240 from 3.0253. It was higher against the Euri at 4.6107 from 4.62221. However, it weakened against the pound to 5.1653 from 5.1389.
Among the heavyweights, Genting Bhd was the top gainer, up 10 sen to RM8.09 and pushed the KLCI up 0.62 of a point. Tenaga Nasional fell two sen to RM14.38 on weaker outlook for the power giant.
Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM19 to RM2,733 per tonne. Among the plantations, TAHPS added 20 sen to RM6.70, Chin Tek rose 10 sen to RM7.80, heavyweight Sime Darby gained five sen to RM7.95 while IOI Corp eked out a one sen gain to RM4.50. KL Kepong was flat at RM23.96 but PPB Group lost six sen to RM16.04.
Among the telcos, Axiata fell 12 sen to RM5.19 and single handedly erased 1.77 points from the KLCI. Maxis and Digi were flat at RM6.01 and RM5 despite their stronger Q3 earnings. Telekom rose one sen to RM6.71.
Public Bank and RHB Bank rose four sen each to RM19.80 and RM4.72, CIMB Group added three sen to RM4.87, Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM13.24 but Maybank fell one sen to RM7.70.
As for consumer stocks, BAT fell 48 sen to RM47.86 and F&N 15 sen lower at RM24.10.
Burn-in tester KESM jumped 57 sen to RM9.79 but Globetronics lost nine sen to RM3.86.
Jerasia Capital attracted attention, surging 16.5 sen to 67.5 sen in absence of any strong positive newsflow. Time dotCom added 20 sen to RM8.
US light crude oil rose 74 cents to US$51.03 and Brent gained 76 cents to US$52.44. Petronas Dagangan added two sen to RM23.40, Petronas Gas gained four sen to RM21.78 and Petronas Chemicals five sen higher at RM6.86 while Sapiral Kencana fell one sen to RM1.64. Petron rose 10 sen to RM4.46.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 cose dup 0.21% to 16,998.91;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.38% to 23,304.97;
CSI 300 lost 0.15% to 3,316.24;
Shanghai’s Composite Index inched up 0.03% to 3,084.72;
Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.81% to 9,641.22;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.67% to 9,283.99;
South Korea’s Kospi eked out a gain of 0.02% to 2,040.94 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.49% to 2,844.62.
Spot gold rose US$8.04 to US$1,270.54.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
