KLCI sees little change in morning trade ahead of long weekend

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI struggled to hold on to higher ground, ending the morning session just half a point higher against its previous close at 1,751.67 points.

Indications of a growing economy helped bolster US stock markets overnight, lending a positive push to regional sentiment and markets. 

However, KLCI counters were mostly in range-bound trading on Friday morning on thin trading volume of 893.55 million shares worth a value of RM617.82mil.

There were 301 decliners to 241 advancers and 501 counters unchanged.

Most banks rebounded from yesterday's lower close although CIMB fell five sen to RM6.50.

Maybank gained one sen to RM9.49, Hong Leong Bank added four sen to RM16.68 and Ambank added two sen to RM4.27. Public Bank and RHB were unchanged at RM20.68 and RM4.88 respectively.

Plantations counter KL Kepong rose two sen to RM24.62, IOI Corp added three sen to RM4.49 and Sime Darby Plantations slipped one sen to RM5.41.

Petronas Gas put on 26 sen to RM17.22 but Petronas Chemicals slipped back two sen to RM7.58 while Petronas Dagangan was unchanged at RM24.26.

In telcos, Maxis slipped one sen to RM5.92, while Digi was unchanged at RM4.80 and Axiata was also steady at RM5.37.

On the wider market, Hengyuan rose 14 sen to RM14.40, Scientex gained seven sen to RM8.82 while IQ Group rose six sen to RM2.07.

Among the laggards, Aeon Credit shaved off 28 sen to RM13.52 despite a positive earnings announcement for its third financial quarter.

Top Glove saw some profit-taking, losing 23 sen to RM7.74 while fellow glovemakers Hartalega slipped 20 sen to RM10.62 and Kossan declined 13 sen to RM8.22.

Meanwhile, in commodities, oil prices slipped back as the reopening of the UK North Sea pipeline approaches in January. Us light crude dropped 17 cents to US$58.19 a barrel while Brent crude slipped 10 cents to US$64.80 a barrel.

The ringgit backed off against major currencies, slipping 0.29% against the greenback at 4.0907, 0.34% against the pound sterling at 5.4726 and 0.3% against the Singapore dollar at 3.0432.