Tenaga lifts KLCI, property stocks in focus (Update)

KUALA LUMPUR: KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Tenaga Nasional were traded higher at midday, with the FBM KLCI up nearly seven points, while property stocks saw strong rising interest.
At
12.30pm, the KLCI was up 6.99 points to 1,784.14; bucking the
lacklustre key Asian markets. Turnover was 1.74 billion shares valued at
RM1.43bil. There were 526 gainers, 332 losers and 264 counters
unchanged.
Bloomberg reported the yen weakened against all of its 16 major peers as the Bank of Japan
starts a two-day policy meeting. Asian stocks held at a five-year high
and silver led losses in metals as investors weighed the pace of Federal
Reserve stimulus efforts.
At Bursa Malaysia, Tenaga rose 16 sen to RM8.38 and powered the KLCI 2.04 points higher.
Banks were also among the gainers, with Maybank up eoght sen to RM10.16, CIMB seven sen to RM8.50 while AMMB, Hong Leong Bank and Public Bank rose four sen each to RM7.24, RM14.32 and RM16.66 respectively. Affin fell 12 sen to RM4.39.
Property based Crescendo rose 19 sen to RM3.64 and its warrants jumped 35 sen to RM2.50, YNH Property rose 20 sen to RM2.30 and Plenitude 15 sen to RM2.38.
Crude palm oil for third-month futures fell RM8 to RM2,327.
Plantation stocks were mixed. FGV rose 12 sen to RM4.62 and PPB Group six sen to RM13.76 but IOI Corp fell two sen to RM5.27. Batu kawan and Kluang lost 10 sen each to RM18.90 and RM3.05.
O&G player Dialog Group jumped 17 sen to RM2.97 on expectations of more positive newsflow.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.14% to 15,339.93;
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.54% to 23,367.09;
Shanghai's Composite Index fell 0.15% to 2,296.60;
Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.02% to 8,375.58;
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.07% to 1,980.96 and
Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.58% to 3,424.16.
The ringgit was firmer against the US dollar at 3.0109 versus 3.0143.
US light crude oil rose 16 cents to US$96.87 and Brent 15 cents higher at US$104.95.
Spot gold rose 61 cents to US$1,394.47.