By Joseph Chin
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue chips staged a rally on Thursday, sending the FBM KLCI to an all-time high of 1,690.82 on news about China's economic recovery and the firm overnight close on Wall Street.
However, some profit taking saw the KLCI ending the morning session off the intra-day high, mirroring some of the key regional markets ex-Japan and ex-China.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 10.15 points or 0.61% to 1,684.87. Turnover was 536.64 million shares valued at RM661.85mil. There were 406 gainers, 198 losers and 306 stocks unchanged.
Maybank KE Research, had in its technical outlook for the KLCI, said due to the US markets' firmer tone, it expected the index to be slightly volatile on Thursday.
"The index may test higher levels like 1,698 and 1,721 on further buying activities before pausing for a breather," it said.
Reuters reported most Asian stock markets edged higher on Thursday on hopes of a steady economic revival in China although oil gave back some of the previous session's strong gains as investors took some money off the table and braced for more U.S. budget battles.
Data from China showing the services sectors expanded in December continued to underpin expectations of an economic recovery that has helped spur a strong rally in Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares over the past month, said Reuters.
Among the key regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.11% to 23,337.98; Taiwan's Taiex added 0.6% to 7,825.51 and Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.45% to 3,216.10. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.57% to 2,019.44.
The ringgit eased to 3.0361 against the US dollar from 3.0354 the previous close.
Crude palm oil for third-month futures slipped RM15 to RM2,486. PPBrose 50 sen to RM46.96 as analysts expected the worst to be over, while Genting Plantations added 21 sen to RM9.18 and KL Kepong 12 sen to RM22.80. Hwoever, TSH fell nine sen to RM2.26.
Among consumer stocks, Dutch Lady added 50 sen to RM46.96 andNestle 14 sen to RM63 but BAT fekk 12 sen to RM61.88.
Genting Bhd's gain of 15 sen to RM9.44 pushed the KLCI up 1.28 points while Axiata added 10 sen to RM6.68 and nudged the index up 1.95 points. DiGi rose six sen to RM5.26.
MAHB rose 20 sen to RM5.49 on better prospects for the airport operator. As for banks, RHB Cap gained 13 sen to RM7.78 and HLFG 10 sen to RM13.72 while insurer Allianz and Allianz-PA rose 14 sen each to RM7.37 and RM7.30.
US light crude oil fell 29 cents to US$92.83 and Brent 31 cents lower at US$112.16.
Spot gold climbed 86 cents to US$1,687.75.
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