KUALA LUMPUR: Local bourse benchmark FBM KLCI ended above the 1,750-level on Tuesday, with consumer stocks leading the top gainers list.
The benchmark index added 5.26 points to close at 1,754.67, its highest since May 2015. The market traded within a range of 9.17 points between an intra-day high of 1,757.99 and a low of 1,748.82 during the session.
Market breadth was positive with 496 gainers as compared to 477 losers while 358 counters unchanged. Volume, however, fell to 4.57 billion shares worth RM3.28bil.
Nestle (M) Bhd
, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N), Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Panasonic Manufacturing (M) Bhd were among the biggest gainers.
Nestle surged RM3.22, or 4.2%, its biggest jump in two years to close at RM80.60. The stock has been on an uptrend rising some 6% in the past month.
F&N jumped 70 sen, or 2.97% to RM24.30, Dutch Lady rose 38 sen to RM58.18 and Panasonic added 10 sen to RM32.
Meanwhile, selected water infrastructure-related counters also attracted investors interest. Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (KPS) surged 32 sen or, 23.7% to RM1.67 on the possible takeover offer of Splash from the Selangor Government.
Petronas Chemicals was one of the biggest movers among the KLCI stocks, pushing the 30-stock index up 1.7206 points. It closed 13 higher at RM7.58. Maybank added 10 sen to RM9 pushing the index up by 1.6864 while Genting Malaysia rose 14 sen to RM5.68, nudging the index up by 1.3754.
Among the banks, Public Bank fell 6 sen to RM20.08, CIMB Group and Hong Leong Bank closed unchanged at RM5.65 and RM13.74 respectively.
Bernama reported that the ringgit extended its gain to close higher against the US dollar today, as the greenback remained under pressure following a more dovish-than-expected monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
At 6 pm, the local unit stood at 4.4230/4280 against the greenback compared with 4.4250/4280 on Monday.
Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares closed mixed with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.34%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.28%, Korea’s Kospi rose 0.99% and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.37%.
Reuters reported that European shares gained on Tuesday with cyclicals, banking and oil stocks outperforming, reversing a cautious start to the week.
Euro Stoxx 50 was up 0.33%, London’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.21%, Paris CAC 40 Index added 0.23% and Germany’s DAX 0.09%.
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