KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips ended Friday on a firmer note as Tenaga Nasional managed to recoup about half of its previous days losses and MAHB climbed on the extension of its contract to managed the country's airports.
However, Petronas Chemical weighed on the FBM KLCI, extending its decline after a fire and explosion occurred at the 50% owned Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 5.94 points or 0.37% to 1,630.17. Turnover was 3.26 billion shares valued at RM2.07bil. There were 399 gainers, 411 losers and 439 counters unchanged.
On the external front, Shanghai stocks recouped losses to end flat on Friday, as better-than-expected exports brought some relief to investors looking for signs of stabilization in the world's second-largest economy, Reuters reported.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.2%, to 3,988.62 while the Shanghai Composite Index ended flat at 3,188.63.
Tenaga rose 22 sen to RM12.28 and pushed the KLCI up 2.16 points as investors viewed the previous day's selling as overdone. Tenaga was impacted by Khazanah Nasional's sale of of 85 million shares at RM12.33 each for RM1bil.
MAHB also recovered, up 21 sen to RM6.82 after it operating agreements (OA) with the government to operate, manage and maintain the country's 39 airports was extended by 35 years.
However, Petronas Chemical slumped 12 sen to RM8.84 and erased 1.66 points. Its major shareholder, Petronas said the fire occurred at its atmospheric residue desulphurisation (ARDS) Unit which was under commissioning stage. No fatality was recorded.
Dialog lost two sen to RM3.17 but Petronas Dagangan added four sen to RM25.02 and Petronas Gas six sen higher at RM17.68.
US light crude oil rallied 91 cents to US$64.49 while Brent climbed 78 cents to US$71.61.
Axiata rose six sen to RM4.15 and added nearly a point to the KLCI, Digi gained three sen to RM4.72 and Maxis one sen higher at RM5.51.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM13 to RM2,167 per tonne o the weaker ringgit versus the US dollar and improved palm oil exports demand.
Sime Plantation rose five sen to RM5,10, PPB Group 20 sen to RM18.88, IOI Corp four sen to RM4.52 and KL Kepong unchanged at RM24.90.
Among the banks, RHB Bank added seven sen to RM5.75, Maybank one sen to RM9.27, AmBank two sen to RM4.45 while CIMB and and HL Bank were flat at RM5.06 and RM20.04. Public Bank shed two sen to RM22.60.
Genting Bhd
added two sen to RM6.70 but GentingM shed two sen to RM3.11.
Nestle was the top gainer for the day, up 40 sen to RM146.40, BAT gained 20 se to RM36.70, Dutch Lady 18 sen to RM64.18 while Carlsberg added 12 sen to RM26.82. F&N was the top loser, down RM1.68 to RM33.40.
The ringgit ended 0.02% lower against the US dollar at 4.1143 and when compared against the other key Asian countries, it is undervalued by 61.47%.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
