For April, the 30-stock index was up 9.46 points or 0.58% from a month ago.
KUALA LUMPUR: IHH Healthcare rallied for the second day on Khazanah's sale of a 16% stake in the company while funds were seen picking up some consumer stocks and Axiata.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 9.79 points or 0.58% to 1,696.34. Turnover was 2.16 billion shares valued at RM2.45bil. There were 316 gainers, 583 losers and 353 counters unchanged.
Key Asian markets were mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.39%, South Korea's Kospi added 0.28% and Singapore's STI gained 0.48% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 0.87% and China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.32%.
At Bursa Malaysia, IHH rallied 25 sen to RM5.50 and nudged the KLCI up 3.68 points. On Wednesday, it climbed 33 sen. Khazanah sold the stake to Mitsui & Co at RM6 a share.
Axiata extended its rebound, rising 15 sen to RM3.78 and gave the KLCI a 2.43 point boost. Digi added 11 sen to RM4.23, Telekom four sen to RM2.35 while Maxis was flat at RM5.40.
Plantations climbed on the government's biodiesel push. PPB Group added 90 sen to RM17.90 and nudged the KLCI 2.28 points, IOI Corp 16 sen to RM4.40, Sime Plantation seven sen to RM4.97 and KL Kepong 30 sen to RM24.74.
US light crude oil fell 75 cents to US$49.54 and Brent fell US$1.09 to US$57.67.
Petronas Dagangan fell 34 sen to RM26.12, Petronas Chemical shed one sen to RM9.25 and Petronas Gas two sen lower at RM18.80. Dialoh lost fve sen to RM3.23.
Genting Malaysia fell 16 sen to RM2.84 and erased 1.69 points from the KLCI while Genting Bhd
lost 23 sen to RM6.34 and wiped out 1.59 points.
Fitch Ratings has affirmed gaming conglomerate Genting Bbhd's rating at 'A-' due to its monopoly position in gaming in Malaysia and robust market share in Singapore while the outlook is stable.
The Malaysian government will increase casino duties by 10 percentage points from 2019, which Fitch estimates will cut Genting's EBITDA by around RM700mil a year.
Tenaga shed two sen to RM14.24, Sime Darby three sen to RM2.40, MISC six sen to RM6.40 but Hartalega gained five sen to RM6.36 and MAHB advanced 16 sen to RM7.80.
As for banks, CIMB rose 10 sen to RM5.85, Maybank, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank two sen each to RM9.45, RM24.90 and RM20.70 respectively but RHB Bank shed three sen to RM5.21.
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