KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse opened in positive territory in early trade on Monday as other Asian markets flirted with decade highs amid strong US economic data and corporate earnings.
In the first 15 minutes of trading, the FBM KLCI was 3.66 points higher at 1,744.59 points. Turnover was 386.44 million shares with a value of RM120.05mil. There were 151 advancers over 62 decliners and 181 counters unchanged.
Early gainers on the market included KL Kepong, up 16 sen to Rm24.84, Petronas Gas, adding 10 sen to RM17.80, Petronas Dagangan, rising 12 sen RM23.56 and Kossan, which added 10 sen to RM7.24.
MISC rose higher on Monday morning, following earnings results last Friday.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Research noted that the company's cumulative nine-month FY17 results had exceeded its expectations and upgraded its forecasts on higher LNG margins. The counter gained 11 sen to RM7.22.
Meanwhile, Lafarge Malaysia dipped six sen to RM6.94.
A diesel storage tank at the Lafarge's Rawang plant had caught fire last Friday and the company has yet to provide the potential impact to its financials and production at this time.
However, Maybank Investment Bank Research has said it believes the production line at Rawang is not affected and that production will resume in a matter of weeks.
Other laggards on the market included Kronologi, which fell four sen to RM1.07 and Mexter, which lost 4.5 sen to 50.5 sen.
In commodities, oil prices hit their highest levels since July 2015 on early Monday as markets tightened while Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power over the weekend through an anti-corruption crackdown that included high profile arrests, Reuters reported.
US light oil traded 16 cents higher at US$55.80 a barrel. while Brent crude rose 18 cents to US$62.25 a barrel.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
