Market Close KLCI makes 11th hour gains, rises 0.5%

by **Cals** Wed 06 May 2015, 00:19

Market Close
KLCI makes 11th hour gains, rises 0.5%

KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): The FBM KLCI made last minute gains, closing 9.15 points or 0.5% higher at 1,827.42, after a lacklustre performance throughout the day.
The gains were spurred by increases in index-linked counters such as [size=14]Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Genting Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and UMW Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).
On the movement of the KLCI earlier in the day, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong said trading was subdued, and that the month of May is traditionally slower for the KLCI.
“We saw some significant profit-taking last week and we expect the index to hover around the 1,820 levels in the near term, due to a lack of catalysts for Asian markets,” he said.
He added that a rebound of the broader market in the near-term is unlikely, and any upswing will largely depend on current corporate earnings season.
Bursa Malaysia saw a total of 1.82 billion shares worth RM1.93 billion exchanged today. Market breadth was bearish, with 434 decliners against 362 gainers, while 321 counters were unchanged.
Leading the gainers was Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), while Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) headed the decliners. The top active stock was DGB Asia Bhd.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.06%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.31%.
The ringgit was trading at RM3.6110 against the US dollar and RM2.7013 against the Singapore dollar.
According to Reuters, Asian stock markets retreated on Tuesday and the Australian dollar briefly fell after the central bank cut interest rates for the second time in four months as the region's growth falters in the face of slowing demand from China.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS extended losses and was down 0.5%.[/size]