KLCI closes at 1,803, highest since May 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Chemicals and Sime Darby helped power the FBM KLCI past the key 1,800 level at the close of Thursday – the highest since May 2015 – on strong foreign fund buying.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up 10.66 points or 0.59% to 1,803.45. Turnover rose to 5.05 billion shares valued at RM3.28bil.

The broader market was firm with advancers leading decliners to two to one. There were 644 gainers, 330 losers and 459 counters unchanged.

Foreign funds were net buyers for the third consecutive day at RM316.1mil while retail investors were net sellers at RM24.5mil and local institutions net sellers at RM291.6mil.

 

Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday as sharp gains on Wall Street overnight on solid US economic data buoyed regional equities, while surging energy stocks pushed the Thai index to a record closing high.

In Asia, shares vaulted to 10-year highs as increased US factory activity and record low unemployment rates in Germany reinforced investor optimism, Reuters reported.

The ringgit rallied against several key currenices. It rose 0.2% to the US dollar to 4.0065 and jumped 0.77% to 5.4266 against the pound sterling. It gained 0.5% to the euro to 4.8198 and advanced 0.38% to the Singapore dollar to 3.0145.

US light crude oil rose 23 cents to US$61.86 and Brent edged up six cents to US$67.90, supported by unrest in Iran raising concern about risks to supplies, cold weather in the United States boosting demand and OPEC-led output cuts, Reuters reported.

Petronas Chemicals jumped 24 sen to RM8.19, the best in recent months, and adding 3.31 points to  the KLCI. Petronas Gas gained 16 sen to RM18.10 and Petronas Dagangan eight sen higher to RM24.58.

UMW Oil and Gas rose 3.5 sen to 36.5 sen while its warrants gained four sen to 22 sen. Sapura Energy was up 2.5 sen to 71.5 sen and Hibiscus also 2.5 sen to 94.5 sen. However, refiner Hengyuan fell 44 sen to RM16.96.

Sime Darby gained 27 sen to RM2.68 and pushed the KLCI up 3.26 points. Its market capitalisation  rose to RM18.22bil. Sime Plantation rose five sen to RM5.55 and Sime Property eight sen higher at RM1.60.

Glove makers were also among the gainers with Top Glove at a record high of RM8.71 while Hartalega 40 sen to RM10.80 and Kossan 33 sen higher at RM8.43.

As for semicon-related stocks, Vitrox jumped 43 sen to RM6.64, KESM added 28 sen to RM20.28 while Globetronics climbed 26 sen to RM6.96.

Caley hit limit-up, gaining 30 sen to RM1.08 with 18.29 million shares done and later prompting an unusual market activity query from Bursa Securities.

Among the heavyweights, Genting Malaysia fell 15 sen to RM5.65 and erased 1.58 points from the KLCI but Genting Bhd gained nine sen to RM9.46. Tenaga added 10 sen to RM15.40.

Crude palm oil fell RM21 to RM2,585 per tonne. PPB Group rose eight sen to RM17.20, IOI Corp seven sen to RM4.60 and KL Kepong four sen to RM24.84.

As for banks, RHB Bank rose six sen to RM5.20, Maybank and CIMB two sen higher to RM9.80 and RM6.55 while Ambank gained three sen to RM4.59. Hong Leong Bank was flat at at RM17 and Public Bank shed two sen to RM20.74.