KLCI closes higher on local fund support ahead of GE14

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed on a strong note on Tuesday, the eve of the closely-contested General Election, with local fund buying seen in key stocks including CIMB, Maybank and Axiata.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up 18.31 points or 1% to 1,846.51. Turnover was 2.35 billion shares valued at RM2.80bil. The broader market was firmer with gainers beating losers 677 to 281 and 405 counters unchanged.

The ringgit slipped against the US dollar and the Singapore unit but gained against the pound sterling and the euro. It fell 0.13% to the US dollar to 3.9497 and shed 0.02% against the Singapore dollar at 2.9519. 

However, it gained 0.08% to the pound sterling to 5.3356 and edged up 0.19% against the eruo at 4.6971.

At Bursa Malaysia, blue chips fell in the early trade before fund buying entered in the late morning. Foreign funds had been net sellers in recent days.  The market was taking its cue also from the firmer key Asian markets.

Consumer stocks were among the top gainers. Nestle rose RM1.90 to RM137, Ajinomoto 25 sen higher at RM22.40, Dutch Lady added 30 sen to RM66.80 and Carlsberg added 28 sen to RM18.16.

CIMB was the biggest mover among the KLCI stocks, gaining 23 sen to RM6.90 and pushed the index up 3.87 points, Maybank gained 16 sen to RM10.70 and nudged the KLCI up 3.14 points while Hong Leong Bank, RHB Bank and Public Bank gained 18 sen each to RM18.62, RM5.27 and RM23.88 respectively. and AmBank climbed four sen to RM3.72.

Axiata ended up 18 sen to RM5.29 and added 2.92 points, Digi was up five senb to RM4.60, Telekom was flat at RM5 buit Maxis fell seven sen to RM5.51.

Genting Bhd added 10 sen to RM8.60 and Genting Malaysia four sen higher at RM5.03 while Tenaga added six sen to RM16.06. IHH was up nine sen to RM6.05.

US light crude oil fell 91 cents to US$69.82 and Brent lost 75 cents to US$75.42. Petronas Gas rose 18 sen to RM17.76, Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM26.40 and Petronas Chemical two sen lower at RM8.42.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM9 to RM2,392 per tonne. As for plantations, PPB Group rose 10 sen to RM19.16, KL Kepong two sen higher at RM25.38 and IOI Corp fell two sen to RM4.67. 

Sime Plantations shed two sen to RM5.44 and Sime Darby was unchanged at RM2.69 while Sime Property added four sen to RM1.41.

Most key Asian markets also ended Tuesday on a strong note, with Hong Kong stocks advancing as fears of a full-blown trade war eased on reports that talks between Washington and Beijing will continue, Reuters reported. The Hang Seng index ended 1.4% higher at 30,402.81, while the China Enterprises Index closed up 1.5% at 12,144.79.

China stocks posted robust gains while the impending MSCI inclusion of China shares rekindled interest in blue-chips. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.2% to 3,878.68, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,161.50.