In a statement yesterday, ABM said, the banks must engage with borrowers early for alternative repayment arrangements.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sustained fund buying of bank stocks following the increase in lending rates saw the FBM KLCI climb more than 10 points in late Monday morning trade, riding on the firmer Asian markets.
At 10.38am, the KLCI was up 10.71 points or 0.58% to 1,864.63. Turnover was 962.48 million shares valued at RM514,55mil. There were 340 gainmers, 339 losers and 344 counters unchanged.
Last Thursday, Bank Negara had during its monetary policy committee meeting decided to raise the interest rates by 25 basis points. This also prompted Maybank and CIMB to also revise upwards their fixed deposit and lending rates.
Asian shares extended their bull run on Monday amid upbeat corporate earnings and strong global economic growth, while the dollar tried to bounce even as the White House continued to complain of "unfair" trade practices by competitors, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4%, aiming for a 12th straight session of gains. It is up 8% for the year so far.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5% as the yen eased a little, while South Korea notched a record.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng also rose 0.5%. It has been the best performer for the year with a rise of more than 11%, followed by Shanghai blue chips with gains of nearly 9%, though the latter dipped on Monday.
At Bursa, Hong Leong Bank rose 30 sen to RM18.50, HLFG 22 sen to RM2.38, Public Bank 16 sen to RM21.46 and Maybank 14 sen to RM10.22. Bursa rose 20 sen to RM10.80, riding on the strong market performance.
Other gainers were Nestle, up RM1.50 to RM113 and F&N 20 sen to RM29.02.
Refiners Petron fell 28 sen to RM11.60 and Hengyuan 12 sen yo RM13.56.
Glove maker Hartalega
fell 12 sen to RM11.80 as reiterated its Sell with an unchanged target price of RM8.04 based on 24 times 2019F PE.
UOB Kay Hian Malaysia Research advises investors to take profit on the rubber gloves sector as it has had a good run and it is time to lock in profits.
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