KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains today, as sellers dominated the market amid some bargain hunting activities following the recent selldown.
The benchmark index edged up 3.97 points, or 0.26% to 1,559.68. The index hit an intraday high of 1,563.47 and a low of 1,556.16.
Decliners outnumbered gainers by 657 to 344 while 447 counters closed unchanged. A total of 5.4 billion shares worth RM2.56bil were traded.
Dealers said investors started nibbling on beaten down stocks as Bursa Malaysia. They added that investors’ risk appetite improved following the overnight gains on Wall Street.
The top gainers included Petronas Gas, which rose 66 sen to RM19.60, F&N added 36 sen to RM26.66, Batu Kawan gained 20 sen to RM19.48 and Nestle advanced 20 sen to RM133.70.
OM Holdings lost 53 sen to RM3.50, MPI fell 42 sen to RM38.50, Cycle & Carriage Bintang shed 40 sen to RM2.62 and Central Global declined 25 sen to RM1.77.
Among the banks, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.19, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.19, CIMB lost one sen to RM4.69, RHB Bank declined one sen to RM5.42 and Hong Leong Bank added six sen to RM18.86.
Oil prices rose higher on Friday, and were on track for a fifth consecutive weekly gain on expectations that demand growth would outstrip supply, Reuters reported.
Brent was up four cents at US$75.60 a barrel at 0854 GMT, heading for a 2.8% jump for the week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up one cent at US$73.31 a barrel and headed for a 2.4% weekly gain.
Asia benchmarks finished higher today as Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.66% to 29,066.18.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended up 1.4% at 29,288.22 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 0.51%, at 3,302.84.
China’s CSI300 index rose 1.6% to 5,239.97, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.2% to 3,607.56.
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