KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended firmer at midday on the back of follow-through interest and window dressing activities helping to sustain the positive undertone.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 7.43 points to 1,627.11. The index opened 1.21 points higher at 1,620.89.
Gainers trounced losers 316 to 252 while 291 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 637.41 million shares worth RM551.73mil.
Dealers said as this will be the last week of year, the stock market would likely see some window-dressing activities. They expect the traditional year-end window dressing activity to provide some support for the KLCI this week.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrials Average rose 75.54 points to 18,161.94 and S&P 500 gained 13.10 points to 2,139.60. Nasdaq increase 44.01 points to 5,243.84. European stocks were little changed at the close on Tuesday amid thin volumes during the holiday period in the region.
JF Apex said the local bourse would remain flat on the back of thin trading volumes. However, selected blue chips may see some trading interests with potential window dressing.
On Bursa Malaysia, British American Tobacco
was the top gainer, up 42 sen to RM43.48, Hap Seng Consolidated rose 20 sen to RM8.90 while Malayan Banking (Maybank) added 15 sen to RM7.90. The top losers included Kluang Rubber Company (Malaya) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd and Teck Guan Perdana Bhd.
Maybank was one the mover among the KLCI stocks, pushing the 30-stock index up 2.5188 points. Axiata Group added 8 sen to RM4.60 pushing the index up by 1.1823 while Maxis Bhd rose 9 sen to RM6, nudging the index up by 1.1135.
Among the banks, Public Bank was unchanged at RM19.68, CIMB Group shed 2 sen to RM4.56 while Hong Leong Bank was up 4 sen to RM13.10.
The ringgit opened marginally lower against the greenback. The local currency is quoted at 4.4835 at noon.
Oil prices edged down on Wednesday in quiet early Asian trading as the market waits to see how OPEC and non-OPEC members carry through on planned supply cuts.
International benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading at US$56.01 per barrel, down 8 cents from their previous close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 6 cents at US$53.84 a barrel.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is down 0.01% to 19,401.72;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.55% to 21,694.67;
Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.44% to 3,101.05;
Taiwan’s Taiex accumulated 1.01% to 9,201.40;
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.87% to 2,024.49 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.37% to 2,896.23 points.
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