KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets experienced a strong rebound coming out of the weekend as the latest US jobs report eased fears of inflation and faster rate hikes.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI was 15.53 points higher to 1,859.45, erasing all the losses seen over the previous week when markets slumped on anxiety over US steel tariffs.
Turnover was 1.38 million shares with a value of RM966.22mil. There were 531 advancers to 284 decliners and 374 counters unchanged.
The counters were on the index were overwhelmingly higher, with only one laggard at midday; telco Digi slid one sen to RM4.74.
Two Petronas counters led the gains; Petronas Chemicals shot up 24 sen to RM8.22 while Petronas Gas addded 64 sen to RM17.84.
Nestle continued to pile on gains, surging RM5.30 to RM150.30.
Meanwhile, Genting Malasia rose 11 sen to RM5.20 while CIMB gained eight sen to RM7.23.
Other heavyweight stocks that lifted the index included Hong Leong Bank, which added 24 sen to RM18.58, Maybank, which put on four sen to RM10.48 and Tenaga Nasional, which gained eight sen to RM15.62.
On the broader market, F&N jumped 66 sen to RM31.64 while Dutch Lady
rose 50 sen to RM68.50.
In the spotlight was MBM Resources, which has being targeted for a majority stake acquisition by UMW. Kenanga Research said the vendors of the MBM stake may ask for more than the current offer price of RM2.56 a share.
"Based on our MBMR’s FY18E earnings forecast, the proposed acquisition works out to 10x PER which is at a 38% discount to the sector average PER of 16x," it said in its research note.
The counter rose 33 sen to RM2.51.
The US jobs report also helped to lift oil markets as the prospect of a growing economy may drive higher fuel demand.
WTI crude edged up one cent to US$62.05 a barrel while Brent crude added five cents to US$65.54 a barrel.
On the forex market, the ringgit gained slightly against the greenback to 3.9085 as emerging market currencies returned to the spotlight over the easing of US interest rate fears.
However, the local currency was 0.22% weaker against the pound sterling at 5.4173 and 0.2% weaker against the Singapore dollar at 2.9739.
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