KUALA LUMPUR: A relief came in the form of an end-of-quarter window-dressing activity, which spurred buying momentum and lifted the benchmark FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) higher.
The index jumped 30.58 points, or 1.84% to 1,696.26 at midday. The 30-stock index opened 0.64 of-a-point lower at 1,665.04. There were 442 gainers, 269 losers and 357 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
Dealers said the local bourse was buoyed by window dressing activities or book-squaring before second quarter ends. They added that entering the third quarter next week, the market could see some profit-taking from investors and the absence of major funds.
Technically, Kenanga Research said, the chart lacks any signs of a possible rebound at the immediate juncture. Trend lines are highly negative with key SMAs in a “Death Cross” condition, while the MACD had also formed a bearish crossover.
“From here, a continued sell-down could bring the index down to its support at 1,615 (S1) – last retested in late 2016. Should a positive turnaround occur, resistances can be found at 1,720 (R1) and possibly 1,760 (R2),” it said.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB) shares surged the most in four years and contributed 9.0023 points to the index. The top gainer, surged 98 sen or 7.17% to RM14.64 with over 12.4 million shares traded. It is currently trading at 11.4 times trailing 12-month earnings per share and 11 times its estimates for the coming year. On a year-to-date basis, the utility giant is down 4.06%.
TNB announced to Bursa Malaysia that companies will have to pay more for their power supply from July 1 to December 2018 following the implementation of a surcharge of 1.35 sen per kWh due to higher fuel and generation costs.
Households would be not affected by the surcharge under the imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) mechanism.
The government has given its green light to TNB to raise non-domestic tariff by 1.35sen/kWh for 2H18 to partially pass through some RM698.2mil under-recovery of fuel cost in 1H18.
Aeon Credit, the second top gainer on Bursa Malaysia gained 74 sen to RM14.64 after announcing a 31% jump in net profit in the first quarter ended May 31.
Maybank, which gained 21 sen to RM9.05, pushed the index up by 3.7185 points, CIMB Group advanced 14 sen to RM5.64 nudging the index up by 2.1213 points while Digi.Com rose 19 sen to RM4.16 lifting the index higher by 2.3899.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Friday as the demand for greenback continues, amid escalating trade tensions between the US and China.
The ringgit is quoted at 4.0373 against the US dollar at midday.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.35% to 22,279.13;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.14% to 28,821.90;
Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 2,820.33;
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.38% to 2,323.05 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index is up 0.7% to 3,280.38 points.
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