KUALA LUMPUR: Sustained foreign fund support for key stocks inlcuding telcos and IHH saw the FBM KLCI closing at a 10-week high on Tuesday while trading volume improved.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 11.34 points or 0.64% to 1,791.09 – the highest since May 25. Turnover was 2.53 billion shares valued at RM2.32bil.
The mood on Bursa was positive as advancers led decliners 576 to 328 while 424 counters were unchanged, tracking the key Asian markets.
Foreign funds were net buyers on Bursa at RM233.4mil while local institutions were net sellers at RM212.7mil and retail investors RM20.7mil.
Shares in China rebounded following a heavy four-day selloff, as investors picked up battered stocks while infrastructure firms were bolstered by expectations of increased spending on public works projects.
Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index ended firmer, led by gains in property stocks, after developer Country Garden said it expected upbeat first-half results. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed higher, Reuters reported.
At Bursa Malaysia, Digi rose 19 sen to RM4.71 and added 2.62 points to the KLCI. Maxis added 11 sen to RM5.73, Telekom gained six sen to RM3.77 and Axiata added three sen to RM4.34.
IHH Healthcare rose 10 sen to RM5.96 and nudged the KLCI up 1.46 points, Press Metal
gained 20 sen to RM4.89 and Tenaga six sen to RM15.50. Genting Malaysia was up seven sen to RM5.13 and Genting Bhd one sen to RM8.70.
Crude palm oil (CPO) climbed RM27 to RM2,233 per tonne, underpinning the advance in plantation stocks.
Far East rose 70 sen to RM13.20, BLD Plantations and United Plantations added 38 sen to RM7.44 and RM27.40.
IJM Plantations rose 13 sen to RM2.38 on a StarBiz report that it had emerged as a takeover target as demand picks up for mature plantations in Sabah.
Among the KLCI plantations, IOI Corp and PPB Group added 10 sen each to RM4.70 and RM16.74 while KL Kepong ended up eight sen to RM24.60.
Sime Plantation rose three sen to RM5.34, Sime Property two sen to RM1.31 and Sime Darby one sen to RM2.58.
US light crude oil rose 33 cents to US$69.34 and Brent 52 cents higher at US$74.27. Petronas Gas rose 38 sen to RM4.89, Petronas Chemical four sen to RM9.05 and Petronas Dagangan flat at RM26.80.
As for banks, Public Bank added gained six sen to RM24.32, Hong Leong Bank four sen to RM19.18, CIMB three sen to RM5.83, RHB Bank and Maybank two sen higher to RM5.48 and RM9.89.
MAHB was the top loser of the day, falling 45 sen to RM9.35 on profit taking after scaling to record highs recently. POS Malaysia gave up 19 sen to RM4.18.
MRCB rose four sen to 79.5 sen and George Kent six sen to RM1.45. Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says no plans to source for new project delivery partners (PDPs) for the light rail transit or LRT 3 project.
Shares of numbers forecast operators (NFOs) fell after the government announced plans to reduce the number of special draws in 2019.
Berjaya Sports Toto and Magnum fell nine sen each to RM2.29 and RM2.10.
The ringgit climbed out of its recent low against the US dollar to eke out a 0.09% gain to 4.0763 and added 0.07% against the pound sterling to 5.2855.
However, it slipped 0.16% against the euro to 4.7230 and shed 0.02% to the Singapore dollar to 2.9851.
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