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KUALA LUMPUR: Banks backed FBM KLCI’s stronger shutdown on Thursday as they stayed on the fringes of Public Bank’s strong performance after its four-for-one bonus issue and investors flocked into finance and banking.
Among the main beneficiaries were Public Bank, BIMB, CIMB, AmBank and HLFG, as analysts recently raised the banking sector to overweight on expectations of an economic recovery next year. MBSB also rose more in active trading.
At 5 p.m., the KLCI was up 7.86 points, or 0.48%, to 1,654.39. The turnover was 8,090 million shares valued at RM4.83bil. There were 568 winners, 644 losers, and 462 unchanged counters.
Public Bank rose 34 sen to RM20.20 with 8.35 million shares, HLFG 40 sen to RM18, AmBank 24 sen to RM3.50, CIMB 23 sen to RM4.28 and MBSB four sen higher than 72 sen with 115 million shares actions done.
BIMB rose 34 sen after its proposal to transfer its listing status to its subsidiary, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, received approval from authorities.
Maybank held steady at RM8.38 while Hong Leong Bank rose two sen to RM18.90.
As for consumer stocks, Nestlé heavyweight rose 50 sen to RM137.30 and Dutch Lady
26 sen at RM37.60.
Green energy companies Samaiden and Solarvet rose 16 sen each to RM1.55 and RM2.03.
It also focused on logistics company Tasco, rising 24 sen to RM3.09.
Chipmakers and semiconductor-related stocks fell back with MPI as the main loser for the day, down 82 sen to RM24.66 and Vitrox 42 sen to RM14.78 on profit taking.
US light crude oil rose 34 cents to $ 45.86 and Brent 35 cents to $ 49.21, as hopes for a faster recovery in demand after the launch of Covid-19 vaccines offset a huge increase in US crude inventories showed that supply remains ample, Reuters reported.
However, Petronas Dagangan lost 32 sen to RM20.38, Petronas Gas 8 sen to RM17.26 while Petronas Chemicals lost one sen to RM7.66.
Tenaga weighed on the KLCI when it fell 14 sen to RM10.50 while MISC dropped 19 sen to RM6.82.
Several of Asia’s largest stock markets fell as the overnight decline on Wall Street and the exclusion of some Chinese companies from the main US stock index affected sentiment across the region, Reuters reported.
Among key Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.23%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.35% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index 0.48%.
Chinese stocks closed unchanged as better-than-expected bank loan data countered S&P Dow Jones Indices’ decision to remove some Chinese companies, including Hikvision, from its products.
The top-line CSI300 Index was unchanged at 4,940.52, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended flat at 3,373.28.
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