KLCI firmly higher at mid-morning

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): The FBM KLCI was firmly higher at mid-morning
on Monday, as key regional markets steadied following European
policymakers coming to a consensus towards fiscal union.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 11.60 points to 1,471.73.

Gainers led losers by 294 to 96, while 195 counters traded unchanged.
Volume was 344.29 million shares valued at RM158.96 million.

Regional markets advanced after twenty-six of the 27 European Union
leaders on Friday agreed to pursue stricter budget rules for the single
currency area and also to have euro zone states and others provide up to
200 billion euros in bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to help tackle the crisis, according to Reuters.

Last week, a Reuters report that China planned a new US$300 billion
vehicle to invest in Europe and the United States also buoyed investor
sentiment, boosting US stocks on Friday.

At the regional markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.49% to
18,862.71, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.32% to 8,649.36, South Korea’s
Kospi gained 1.29% to 1,898.91, Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.19% to 6,975.39,
and Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.90% to 2,718.83.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.41% to 2,305.86.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research and chief
chartist Lee Cheng Hooi in a note to clients on Dec 12 said the FBM KLCI
lost 28.89-points and closed at 1,460.13 last Friday, adding that the
local market remained negative in light of the volatile global markets.

He said a drop in the global markets (from last Monday to Friday) led
to the softer sentiment for the local bourse, and that some blue chips
stocks led the fall in fairly lack lustre trading.

“Although the tone of the global indices has improved somewhat, Eurozone worries on how to tame their debt crisis still persist.

“There could still be inherent and great price volatility in the next
two weeks before the global markets wind-down for the Christmas and New
Year holidays in late December,” he said.

On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle was the top gainer at mid-morning and rose
RM1.90 to RM56.28; Dutch Lady added 58 sen to RM25.50, BAT 54 sen to
RM47.84, KLK 28 sen to RM22.56, NSOP 27 sen to RM5.69, Petronas Gas 26
sen to RM14.10, while GAB, PPB, HLFG and Shell gained 20 sen each to
RM12.20, RM16.50, RM11.68 and RM9.50 respectively.

Decliners included Lafarge Malayan Cement, Quality Concrete,
Shangri-La, South Steel, Triplc and Ekovest, while the actives included
Utopia, Compugates, SYF Resources, Flonic and Emico.