Bursa, CIMB advance, FBM KLCI above 1,250

Written by The Edge FinancialDaily
Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:18

KUALA LUMPUR: The strong overnight close on Wall Street encouraged investors to pick up more equities, with all key regional markets chalking up good gains in early trade on Thursday, Oct 15.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 7.14 points to 1,253.98. Turnover was 439.1 million shares valued at RM371.46 million. There were 375 gainers, 110 losers and 201 counters unchanged.

Among key regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 1.5% higher at 22,218.37; Shanghai's Composite Index advanced 1.2% to 3,003.12 while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2.11% to 10,272.62. Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.8% to 2,730.17.

Light crude oil rose 68 cents to US$75.86 while gold added US$1.28 to US$1,063.65.

As for Bursa Malaysia, HwangDBS Vickers Research said after a surprisingly robust performance it reckoned the Malaysian bourse would want to sustain the upward momentum ahead.

It added the FBM KLCI would be eyeing to overcome the resistance hurdle of 1,255 next. Investors across the region should also feel more confident today following Wall Street's surge overnight although the run-up in most Asian bourses yesterday suggests that the reaction in regional markets today would likely be less strong.

"Public Bank is scheduled to announce its July - September quarter financial performance around lunch time today. Let's see if there will be any pleasant surprises to excite our local market in the afternoon session," it said.

Bursa, which is scheduled to announce its results on Friday, rose 26 sen to RM8.45. CIMB extended its winning streak, rising 16 sen to RM12.48, Hong Leong Financial Group added 20 sen to RM6.04 while Hong Leong Bank added 14 sen to RM7.05.

KL Kepong added 14 sen to RM14.34 while its major shareholder Batu Kawan rose 14 sen also to RM9.98 while SOP gave up 11 sen to RM2.68 with 400 shares done.

KNM was the most active with 37.3 million shares done, rising 1.5 sen to 86 sen.

HWGB fell one sen to 22 sen after announcing its share capital reduction plan.

Kia Lim fell 15 sen to 10 sen with 2,000 shares done. NSTP gave up some of yesterday's gains, slipping eight sen to RM2.43 and DiGi shed four sen to RM21.44.