Bursa Malaysia joined the key Asian markets recovery as they notched gains of between 0.4% and 2.25% with Dialog, telcos, glove makers and Maybank underpinning the advance.
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas and Petronas Chemicals chalked up firm gains on Thursday to push the FBM KLCI above the 1,750 level amid a slight pullback on crude oil prices while the ringgit weakened against the firmer US dollar.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 4.58 points or 0.26% to 1,751.21. Turnover was 2.48 billion shares valued at RM2.06bil. There were 375 gainers, 440 losers and 447 counters unchanged.
Hong Kong shares rose on Thursday, supported by gains in mainland markets as Beijing pledged to deepen structural reforms and curb risks to its financial system while maintaining steady economic growth in 2018, according to Reuters.
Also closing higher were China stocks, as investors were inspired by Beijing's commitment to maintain steady economic growth next year while deepening structural reforms and curbing financial risks.
The ringgit fell 0.12% against the US dollar to 4.0790 and weakened 0.38% to the euro to 4.8480 and slipped 0.14% to the Singapore dollar to 3.0340. However, it gained 0.11% to the pound sterling to 5.4542.
At Bursa, Petronas Gas jumped 58 sen to RM16.96 on firm fund buying while Petronas Chemicals added 12 sen to RM7.60 but Petronas Dagangan fell 12 sen to RM24.26. Sapura Energy
fell 0.5 sen to 71.5 sen.
As for refiners, Hengyuan fell 14 sen to RM14.26 while Petron was unchanged at RM13.24.
Us light crude oil fell 14 cents to US$57.95 and the Brent 29 cents lower at US$64.27.
Power giant Tenaga Nasional rose 10 sen to RM24.96, Genting Bhd eight sen higher at RM8.97 and Genting Malaysia advanced four sen to RM5.55. IHH fell eight sen to RM5.79 and erased 1.17 points from the KLCI.
Among the banks, CIMB advanced seven sen to RM6.55 but the other banks faltered.
AmBank fell nine sen to RM4.25, RHB Bank seven sen to RM4.88, Hong Leong Bank eight sen to RM16.64, Public Bank four sen to RM20.68 and Maybank two sen to RM9.48. HLFG fell 48 sen to RM17.04.
Semicon and tech stocks were mostly higher led by MPI, up 26 sen to RM12.76 and Globetronics 22 sen higher at RM6.70. KESM fell 16 sen to RM19.10.
Among the Sime stocks, Sime Darby rose three sen to RM2.09 and Sime Plantations flat at RM5.42 while Sime Property shed one sen to RM1.39.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM49 to a low of RM2,450. This was lowest since June this year.
As for plantations, Batu Kawan rose 36 sen to RM19.86, KL Kepong added eight sen to RM24.60, IOI Corp five sen to RM4.46 but PPB Group fell four sen to RM16.94.
As for consumer stocks, Nestle added 40 sen to RM100, Heineken gained 22 sen to RM18.92. However, Dutch Lady fell 10 sen to RM60.60.
Profit taking saw Hartalega falling 58 sen to RM10.82, making it the top loser while Kossan lost 11 sen to RM8.35 and Top Glove gave up eight sen to RM7.97. Hartalega and Top Glove had surged to fresh record highs earlier this week.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
