KUALA LUMPUR: Fund buying of Maybank and Public Bank underpinned the FBM KLCI’s advance early on as market sentiment continued to improve after the eight straight days of gains.
At 9.19am, the KLCI was up 9.02 points or 0.51% to 1,762.09. Turnover was 298.53 million shares valued at RM162mil. There were 265 gainers, 121 losers and 255 counters unchanged.
Technically, the index outlook is positive-bias as evidenced by uptrend momentum indicators, says Kenanga Research.
“From here, we expect an eventual move towards 1,760 (R1), where a decisive break-through could see the index advancing towards 1,790 (R2). Meanwhile, immediate support levels are identified at 1,720 (S1) and 1,700 (S2),” it said.
Maybank and Public Bank rose 16 sen each to RM9.76 and RM23.86.
F&N was the top gainer, up 44 sen to RM38.20 and MAHB 17 sen higher at RM9.07 while PBB Group added 14 sen to RM19.96 and Ann Joo
12 sen to RM2.16.
Among the glove makers, Kossan gained 22 sen to RM4.62 and Supermax 10 sen to RM4.57.
Revenue Group, which chalked up gains of nearly 70% on its trading debut on Wednesday, added another 10 sen to 72.5 sen. It was the most active with 28.81 million shares.
Velestro added 1.5 sen to 29.5 sen with 20.9 million shares done, riding on its fresh contracts.
Reuters reported oil prices extended gains from the previous session, buoyed after official data showed that US inventories of gasoline, diesel and heating oil unexpectedly fell last week.
Brent crude futures was up eight cents to US$72.98 while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 20 cents to US$68.96.
MNRB fell 18 sen to RM2.16, Yinson six sen to RM4.60 while LPI, Gamuda and CMSB shed four sen each to RM16.98, RM3.54 and RM2.86 respectively.
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