Market Close KLCI at record close on foreign fund buying, ringgit strengthens

by **Cals** Tue 08 Jul 2014, 08:51

Market Close KLCI at record close on foreign fund buying, ringgit strengthens

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Jonathan Gan of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 07 July 2014 17:24

KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): The FBM KLCI achieved a record close, rising 7.59 points or 0.4 % to 1,892.50 after hitting an intraday high of 1894.72. The KLCI's rise came on foreign fund buying.

Danny Wong, CEO of Areca Capital told theedgemalaysia.com that the influx of foreign funds pushed the index to an all-time high today on the back of selected blue chips.

The blue chip stocks include Petronas Gas Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd and RHB Capital Bhd.

“Malaysia is known as a defensive market and many investors may be looking to diversify their investments into steady stocks. Local banks, and oil and gas blue chips may attract attention in the coming days,” he said.

The KLCI's rise came amid a strengthening ringgit in anticipation of Bank Negara Malaysia likely raising interest rates this week. The ringgit strengthened to RM3.1900 versus the US dollar today, according to Bloomberg data. This compares with RM3.3511 seen in February this year.

Wong foresees a 25 basis point hike in Malaysia's overnight policy rate (OPR) on positive economic figures.

Across Bursa Malaysia, market breadth remained positive with 491 stocks up while 357 entities declined.

MPI Bhd led top gainers while British American Tobacco Bhd led the decliners list. Talam Transform Bhd was the most-active stock.

Bursa Malaysia saw 1.8 billion shares traded worth RM2.16 billion.

Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.37% while the South Korean Kospi rose 0.23%.

Reuters reported that Asian stock markets were subdued on Monday but held near three-year highs on optimism about the U.S. economy, with investors now shifting their focus to corporate earnings.

Despite the improvement in the job market, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates near zero for at least a year even as it trims its bond-buying stimulus.