KUALA LUMPUR: Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday amid speculation over Washington and Beijing's possible trade resolution and the likelihood that the US Federal Reserve would halt its tightening policy.
Shanghai's Composite Index slid 0.2% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei gained 1%.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 3.31 points to 1,675.86. Trading volume was 1.07 billion shares valued at RM543.23mil. There were 339 decliners versus 239 gainers and 305 counters unchanged.
On the declining end of the index, MISC fell dropped 15 sen to RM6.54, Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM13.88 and Nestle shaved RM1.40 to RM143.60.
Export-driven glove makers are on the losing end of the market as the US currency continues to slide against the ringgit. Harlega lost 33 sen to RM5.42 and Top Glove dropped 22 sen to RM5.08. Outside the KLCI, Kossan fell 23 sen to RM4.02
Leading the gainers, Petronas Chemicals rose seven sen to RM9, Axiata gained six sen to RM3.87 and IHH added five sen to RM5.61.
On the wider market, Gagasan Nadi led the most actively traded counters with a 1.5 sen gain to 31.5 sen.
Among other top traded stocks, Bumi Armada
rose 0.5 sen to 15.5 sen and Sapura Energy advanced 0.5 sen to 29 sen.
Oil markets firmed up slightly on Tuesday as the prospect of a resolution to the trade conflict whetted investor appetite. US crude gained six cents to US$48.58 whiel Brent crude rose seven cents to US$57.40.
In currencies, the ringgit gained 0.1% over the US dollar to 4.1110. It was 0.1% weaker against the pound sterling at 5.2459 and 0.2% stronger against the Singapore dollar at 3.0265.
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
