RHB Research said this unprecedented election result has caught most investors off guard, although retail investors appear to have read the tea leaves well.
KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips ended Wednesday slightly higher as nearly half of the 30-stock FBM KLCI managed to eke out only marginal gains except for Petronas Dagangan.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 0.85 of a point or just 0.05% to 1,763.78. Turnover was 3.75 billion shares valued at RM2.69bil. There were 543 gainers, 386 losers and 431 counters unchanged.
Traders were quick to take profit on the day. Two stocks, WCT and CN Asia lost momentum as their early gains were mostly erased towards the close.
Key Asian markets were mixed. Hong Kong shares rose, led by energy stocks, as sentiment improved on signs Beijing is loosening monetary and fiscal policies to prevent a drastic slowdown in the economy. The Hang Seng index and the China Enterprises Index rose 0.9% each, Reuters reported.
However, China stocks ended slightly lower as investors paused for breath after three straight days of gain. The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.1% at 3,577.75 while the Shanghai Composite Index also eased 0.1% to 2,903.65.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported oil prices edged higher for a second day after data showed US crude inventories fell more than expected last week, easing worries about oversupply that have dragged on markets in recent sessions.
Global benchmark Brent crude was up 50 cents at US$73.94 a barrel by 0805 GMT while US light crude edged up five cents to US$68.57.
Petronas Dagangan added 54 sen to RM26.84 and pushed the KLCI up 0.95 of a point, Petronas Chemical added one sen to RM8.81 while Petronas Gas shed two sen to RM18.38. Dialog was flat at RM3.24.
Sapura Energy
rose 3.5 sen to 62 sen with 340 million shares done while Velesto gained 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen with 95.22 million units traded.
Tenaga's 10 sen gain to RM14.88 pushed the KLCI up just one point. MISC added five sen to RM6.40 and Genting Malaysia two sen to RM5.14.
However, IHH lost 10 sen to RM5.97 and wiped out 1.46 points while Genting Bhd fell nine sen to RM8.69.
As for banks, HL Bank advanced six sen to RM18.60, Maybank rose four sen to RM9.81, CIMB three sen to RM5.89, Public Bank two sen to RM24 and RHB Bank one sen to RM5.37.
Sime Plantation gave up most of the previous day's gains, falling eight sen to RM5.25, Sime Darby was flat at RM2.46 while Sime Property added two sen to RM1.41.
Crude palm oil for third month rose RM11 to RM2,163 per tonne. Among plantations, PPB Group fell six sen to RM16.72, IOI Corp and KL Kepong were flat at RM4.57 and RM24.42.
WCT ended three sen higher at RM1.02, off the intra-day high of RM1.10 after a judge ruled in favour of the group in civil suit in Dubai.
CN Asia edged up one sen to 77 sen, off the intra-day high of 90 sen after it was removed from the Practice Note 17 classification.
As for the ringgit, it edged up 0.26% against the US dollar to 4.0555 and gained 0.13% to the euro to 4.7455. However, it fell 0.1% versus the pound sterling to 5.3389 and shed 0.04% against the Singapore unit to 2.9795.
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