Petronas units soar after parent reduces stakes

KUALA LUMPUR: Units of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) jumped after the state oil company reduced its stakes in them, as investors expect the move could lead to the companies having more public shares to trade and thus getting bigger weightings in key stock indexes.

Petronas Dagangan Bhd jumped as much as 14.2%, set for the steepest gain since 1997, while Petronas Gas Bhd gained up to 8.7%, set for the most since 2011. MISC Bhd, already the country’s best-performing stock this year, rose as much as 13.4% to reach the highest intraday level since 2008.