KUALA LUMPUR: The local benchmark index, which struggled to keep in positive territory for much of the day's trading session, saw a final hour push that ended the week on a strong note.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was up 9.03 points to 1,760.24 points. Turnover was 1.64 billion shares with a value of RM1.55bil. There were 401 advancers to 392 decliners and 478 counters unchanged.
Telekom Malaysia led the way with a 50 sen gain that took the counter to RM6.50, lifting the index by 3.347 points.
Hong Leong Financial Group was also another leading advancer, adding 56 sen to RM17.60. Plantations counter IOI rose nine sen to RM4.55.
Meanwhile, heavyweight Genting put on 13 sen to RM910 while new KLCI entrant Nestle gained RM2 to RM102.
CIMB lagged behind in the 30-stock index, shaving off six sen to RM6.49. There were only two other decliners on the KLCI; PPB lost four sen to RM16.90 while Petronas Dagangan dipped two sen to RM24.24.
On the wider market, Allianz put on 50 sen to RM13.60, Pharmaniaga
gained 40 sen o RM4.30 and Westports gained 24 sen to RM3.74.
Among laggards, Aeon Credit ended the day 28 sen easier at RM13.52, SP Setia dipped 16 sen to RM3.34 and Riverview dropped eight sen to RM3.96.
In regional markets, China stocks dipped as weakness in banking and consumer stocks offset gains in the energy sector.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 2.70 points or 0.08% at 3,297.36.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.32% to 4,054.60 points.
Hong Kong shares rose on property and IT shares with the Hang Seng up 210.95 points or 0.72% at 29,578.01 points.
Japan’s Nikkei eked out small gains on Friday as gains in banks and commodities trading houses offset weakness in pharmaceuticals, ending 0.2% higher at 22,902.76.
In South Korea, the Kospi was up 10.71 points or 0.44% at 2,440.54.
Taiwan's Taiex was 48.3 points or half a percent higher at 10,537.27 while Singapore's Straits Times rose slightly by 3.18 points to 3,385.71.
Meanwhile in commodities, oil prices dipped as supply from the North Sea pipeline was expected to resume in January.
US light crude fell 27 cents to US$58.09 a barrel while Brent crude slipped 16 cents to US$64.74 a barrel.
The ringgit traded relatively unchanged against major currencies. It was little changed against the greenback at 4.0800, pound sterling at 5.4574 and Singapore dollar at 3.0341.
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