KUALA LUMPUR: Some fund buying of selected blue chips including Tenaga Nasional Bhd
and Sime Darby Plantation on Thursday enable the FBM KLCI to buck the regional trend.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI closed 7.72 points higher at 1,675.83. The index opened 7.05 points higher at 1,675.16. The market traded within a range of 14.56 points between an intra-day high of 1680.78 and a low of 1666.22 during the session.
In the broader market, there were 366 gainers against 367 losers while 378 counters unchanged. About 1.75 billion shares, valued at RM122bil, changed hands.
Apple Inc made a rare cut to its quarterly sales forecast on Wednesday, and, for the first time since the iPhone was launched in 2007, issued a warning on its revenue guidance ahead of releasing quarterly results. The news triggered a new wave of selling.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.3% to 25,064.36, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed flat.
In China, the Shanghai Composite index ended nearly flat at 2,464.36, while the blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.2%.
Reuters reported that South Korea’s benchmark Kospi stock index slumped to a two-month low on Thursday after Apple cut its revenue forecast, adding worries over global economic slowdown. The Kospi closed down 16.30 points, or 0.81% at 1,993.70, hitting the lowest trading level since Oct.
Dealers said the performance of our local bourse was lifted by buying interest in heavy counters such as Tenaga, Sime Darby Plantation and Hong Leong Financial Group (HLFG).
On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle topped the gainers’ list, adding 80 sen to RM147.50. Fraser & Neave gained 68 sen to RM33.88 and HLFG rose 58 sen to RM19.02.
Losers included Dutch Lady, shedding 80 sen to RM60.70, Ajinomoto fell 54 sen to RM18.80 and Dufu lost 36 sen to 58 sen.
Tenaga added 32 sen to RM13.76, Sime Darby Plantation gained 16 sen to RM4.71 and MISC rose 15 sen to RM6.70.
Among the banks, Maybank shed three sen to RM9.36, Public Bank lost six sen to RM24.60 while Hong Leong Bank gained 20 sen to RM20.50.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1427 against the US dollar, down 0.14%.
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