Late buying of PetGas drives KLCI to higher close (6033)

KUALA LUMPUR: Late fund buying of Petronas Gas
pushed the FBM KLCI to a higher close on Monday while the broader
market was firmer as investors' positive sentiment was buoyed by the
regional markets.
Also giving the equities market a boost was
the Prime Minister's announcement that the proposed 28-ha Kuala Lumpur
International Financial District, renamed Tun Razak Exchange, would generate RM26bil in gross development value and create 500,000 jobs.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 7.41 points to 1,632.35, with Petronas Gas pushing up the 30-stock index up 3.23 points.
Turnover
on Bursa Malaysia was 1.23 billion shares valued at RM1.28bil.
Advancing counters beat decliners 426 to 305 while 334 counters were
unchanged.
European stocks rose to a four-month high and Spanish
and Italian bonds extended a rally on speculation that policy makers
will take action to ease Europe's debt crisis, Bloomberg reported. The
euro weakened, while corn jumped to a record as a drought persisted in
the US Midwest.
Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei
225 rose 0.8% to 8,635.44; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.61% to
19,585.40; Taiwan's Taiex 0.48% to 7,158.88; South Korea's Kospi 0.8%
to 1,843.79 and Singapore's Straits Times Index 1.14% higher at
3,032.80.
However, China shares fell. Shanghai's Composite Index lost 0.89% to 2,109.91.
US light crude oil fell 10 cents to US$90.03 and Brent 52 cents lower at US$105.95 while spot gold lost US$4.04 to US$1,619.17.
The ringgit was firmer against the US dollar at 3.1530.
Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM48 to RM2,975.
At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Gas jumped RM1.30 to RM19.30 and Petronas Dagangan 10 sen to RM21.40 while among the banks, HL Bank added 34 sen to RM13.80 and HLFG 14 sen to RM12.46.
Among the plantations, Batu Kawan added 18 sen to RM18.60 and IOI Corp four sen to RM5.34 but Far East lost 20 sen to RM7.40.
Among the telcos, TM added six sen to RM5.72 and Axiata five sen to RM5.85 but Maxis fell for the third day, down eight sen to RM6.32.
IHH
was unchanged at RM3.15 with 31.68 million shares done. Patimas was the
most active with 194.24 million shares done, up 1.5 sen to 10 sen.
BAT was the top loser, down RM1.58 to RM60.36 while Nestle
shed 36 sen to RM60 and F&N 14 sen to RM18.98. UOA Development gave
up most of its gains from Thursday, down 13 sen to RM1.69.