FBM KLCI rises 10.38 points to 2-week high

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI finished stronger on Tuesday helped by buying interest in banking stocks, in line with the positive performance of regional bourses.

At 5pm, the 30-stock index advanced 10.38 points, or 0.72% to 1,454.44, its highest since Aug 16.

There were 535 gainers, 504 losers and 389 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 4.02 billion shares valued at RM2.85bil.

The KLCI-component stocks were overwhelmingly positive, with 22 gainers and four losers while four closed unchanged.

Among the banks, Maybank rose nine sen to RM9.09, Public Bank gained six sen to RM4.14, CIMB added three sen to RM5.63, RHB Bank climbed five sen to RM5.70, Hong Leong Bank rose eight sen to RM19.88 and AmBank advanced four sen to RM3.73.

PETRONAS Dagangan rose 50 sen to RM22.10, PETRONAS Chemicals gained 19 sen to RM7.19 and PETRONAS Gas added 12 sen to RM17.20.

On the broader market, Malaysian Pacific Industries surged RM1.44 to RM27.74, Harrisons rose 46 sen to RM8.48, Dutch Lady slid 52 sen to RM21.50 and Hextar Technologies fell 32 sen to RM27.60.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.6445, up 0.23% against the US dollar.

The local currency was up 0.2% against the euro at 5.0210. It fell 0.05% against the pound sterling at 5.8575 and rose 0.02% against the Singapore dollar at 3.4287.

Among the key regional markets: Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.18% to 32,226.97; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.95% to 18,484.03; Shanghai Composite Index added 1.2% to 3,135.89; Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.69% to 16,623.65; South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.34% to 2,552.16 and; Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.26% to 3,222.19 points.