Late selling of key stocks sees KLCI closing barely higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Late selling of index-linked stocks saw the FBM KLCI
closing marginally higher on Wednesday, with some selling seen in Public Bank, Genting and Maxis.
However, the gains in DiGi, IOI, Axiata and Telekom Malaysia enabled the 30-stock index to stay in the positive zone.
At
5pm, the FBM KLCI was up just 0.16 of a point to 1,576.23, off the
intra-day high of 1,580.55. Turnover was 677.02 million shares valued
at RM1.21bil. There were 386 gainers, 282 losers and 334 counters
unchanged.
Regional markets except for Singapore fared better than the local market.
Japan's
Nikkei 225 climbed 0.6% to 8,587.84; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added
0.82% to 19,026.52; Shanghai's Composite Index up 1.27% to 2,318.92;
South Korea's Kospi 0.25% 1,859.32 and Taiwan's Taiex added 0.24% to
7,088.83.
However, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell fell 0.36% to 2,786.88.
US
light crude oil rose 10 cents to US$83.22 and Brent up 22 cents to
US$97.36. The ringgit strengthened to 3.1793 against the US dollar.
Crude palm oil third-month futures fell RM18 to RM2,947.
At Bursa Malaysia,
DiGi and IOI rose four sen each to RM4.10 and RM5.12, pushing the KLCI
up 1.3 points. Axiata added three sen to RM5.40 and Telekom seven sen
to RM5.53 while Tenaga edged up four sen to RM6.48.
UMW was the best performer among the 30 stocks of the KLCI, adding 15 sen to RM8.32.
Takaful was the top gainer for the day, up 28 sen to RM5.23 as interest had been driven by its plans to expand its operations.
Among plantations, United Plantations rose 24 sen to RM24.84 and Tradewinds Plantations 18 sen to RM4.90. PPB fell 12 sen to RM15.72.
MAS-CG rose one sen to 3.5 sen in active trade while MAS added three sen to RM1.15.
BAT and Aeon fell 14 sen each to RM54.66 and RM9.36 while Genting shed 10 sen to RM9.40. Public Bank lost eight sen to RM13.66.