MSM gives blue chips a boost

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets mostly gave up their gains at mid-day on Tuesday, June 27 after initial cheers of an agreement by French banks to roll over Greek debt appeared to fizzle out and succumb to profit taking.

The FBM KLCI, however, rose as select blue chips lifted the index and the strong debut of sugar refiner and distributor MSM Holdings Bhd gave local investors a much-needed nudge.

At the mid-day break, the FBM KLCI was up 3.33 points to 1,565.85.

Gainers led losers by 342 to 267, while 307 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 460.99 million shares valued at RM879.74 million.

The ringgit strengthened 0.25% to 3.0498 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil futures for the third month delivery rose RM33 per tonne to RM3,075, crude oil was up 17 cents per barrel to US$90.78 and gold added 33 cents to US$1,498.38.

At the regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared down its gains and was up 0.64% to 9,639.59 while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.61% to 2,082.88.

Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.60% to 2,741.64, Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.17% to 8,485.81, Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched down 0.07% to 3,046.18 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.03% to 22,035.98.

On Bursa Malaysia this morning, MSM was the top gainer and most actively traded counter. The stock jumped RM1.08 to RM4.58 with 75.12 million shares traded.

BAT added 40 sen to RM46.10, NCB rose 39 sen to RM4.11, HLFG 18 sen to RM13.18, Genting 16 sen to RM11.08, CIMB 12 sen to RM8.87, Ibraco and Esso 10 sen each to RM1.18 and RM5.05, while YTL Land rose nine sen to RM1.65.

Among the decliners this morning, Panasonic fell 30 sen to RM24.50, Nestle 20 sen to RM47.30, Chin Teck 15 sen to RM8.50, Malayan Flour Mills 11 sen to RM7.89, GAB eight sen to RM9.98, NSOP seven sen to RM5.25, Apollo six sen to RM3.04 and AIRB five sen to RM1.64.

Actives included Ingenuity Solutions, UEM Land, Focus, Ramunia, HWGB, MAA and MAS.