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KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its gains as data from Chinese factories gave the domestic market a rebound of momentum ahead of the lunch break.
China’s Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s index rose to 51.5 in September from 51.0 in August, beating analysts’ expectations of a milder rise and giving hope of an economic recovery.
The upbeat data helped counter the negative mood sparked by the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, which observers have called an exchange of hostilities between the two candidates.
At 12:30 pm, the key index was up 8.23 points to 1,512.13, with Public Bank, MISC and Petronas Chemicals leading the advance.
Banks were positive for the second day in a row with Public Bank gaining 28 sen to RM15.86, Maybank adding four sen to RM7.20, Hong Leong Bank rising two sen to RM15.02, RHB rising six sen to RM4.60 and CIMB rising a sen higher than RM3.10.
MISC rose 17 sen to RM7.49 while Petronas Chemicals rose 14 sen to RM5.56.
In telecommunications, Maxis gained five sen to RM5.23, Axiata gained three sen to RM2.96 and Digi gained five sen to RM3.98.
The widespread rally in heavyweights offset a weaker performance in glove stocks, as investors made gains for a second day. Top Glove dropped two sen to RM8.45 and Hartalega
it slipped 18 sen to RM16.82.
The counters that saw the most trading interest were that XOX was down one sen to 14 sen, Kanger fell two sen to 19 sen, and Trive was up 0.5 sen to two sen.
Overseas, the Chinese composite index rose 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2%.
However, Japan’s shares fell 1% and Australia’s ASX200 tumbled 1.9%.
Meanwhile, the looming winter sparked further anxiety over the worsening pandemic in European countries, prompting a prolonged drop in crude prices.
US crude was down 41 cents to $ 38.88 a barrel and Brent crude was down 46 cents to $ 40.57 a barrel.
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