KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed higher on Wednesday, with Maybank, Sime Darby and Petronas-linked stocks underpinning the advance as sentiment improved after the profit taking by local institutions the previous day.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was up 10.09 points or 0.57% to 1,792.79. Turnover climbed to 5.11 billion shares valued at RM3.67bil. The broader market was firm with advancers beating decliners more than two to one or 662 gainers to 316 losers and 348 counters unchanged.
The ringgit lost ground against several key currencies. It shed 0.02% against the US dollar to 4.0205; fell 0.38% to 5.4687 to the pound sterling; it weakened 0.04% to the euro to 4.8443 and was down 0.14% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0262.
China stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, aided by strong gains in consumer and transport firms, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong shares rose for the seventh straight session on Wednesday to a fresh decade-high, aided by strength in index heavyweight Tencent and consumer goods stocks.
At Bursa Malaysia, Maybank rose 12 sen to RM9.78 and pushed the KLCI up 2.29 points while AmBank gained 11 sen to RM4.56, RHB Bank eight sen to RM5.14, Public Bank was flat RM20.76 while Hong Leong Bank shed two sen to RM17.
Sime Darby jumped 19 sen to RM2.41 and pushed the KLCI up 2.29 points while Sime Plantations added one sen to RM5.50 and Sime Property six sen higher at RM1.52.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga rose eight sen to RM15.30, Genting Bhd
six sen to RM9.37 and Genting Malaysia two sen higher at RM5.80.
Oil traded near the highest close in more than two years before US government data forecast to show stockpiles extended declines for a seventh week and as unrest continued in OPEC’s third-biggest producer, Reuters reported.
US light crude oil rose 10 cents to US$60.47 and Brent 11 cents higher at US$66.68. Petronas Gas advanced 42 sen to RM17.94, Petronas Dagangan 14 sen to RM24.50 and Petronas Chemicals 10 sen to RM7.95.
Sapura Energy rose 1.5 sen to 69 sen with 114.83 million shares after hitting fresh record lows recently. Wah Seong – which had been in the doldrums for years – jumped 22 sen to RM1.31 despite the absence of any fresh news.
Refiners Hengyuan and Petron, which had been rallying in recent months as crude oil prices climbed closed in the red, displaying the similar volatility as Tuesday. Though they were among the top gainers early Wednesday, they closed lower. Hengyuan fell 56 sen to RM17.40 and Petron 26 sen to RM13.64.
MRCB rose nine sen to RM1.25 with 82.5 million shares done. CIMB Equities Research is more upbeat on MRCB’s infrastructure and highway divestment prospects in 2018.
The research house said a mutual termination of the 100%-owned Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) concession appears under way.
“Although the pricing is still unknown, the termination would reduce debt significantly, by some 25%,” it said.
DRB-Hicom, which rose to an early high of RM2.51, ended the day up four sen to RM2.30. Analysts are upbeat on Proton Holdings Bhd as the national car company plots its return to the top with Chinese strategic partner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd in the driving seat
My EG rose 23 sen to RM2.46 as its major shareholders were seen buying more of the shares while Credit Suisse upgraded it to Outperform and a target price of RM2.70.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM56 to RM2,586 per tonne. KL Kepong added eight sen to RM24.80, PPB Group gained four sen to RM17.12 but IOI Corp shed one sen to RM4.53.
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