Business

Published: Monday November 9, 2009 MYT 2:09:00 PM

Asian markets mostly up at midday

By Laalitha Hunt


KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets were mostly up at midday Monday after Group of 20 governments agreed to maintain stimulus efforts.

According to a Bloomberg report, the region’s stocks were also boosted as Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd surged 31% after rejecting a hostile bid from its parent, AXA SA as well as AMP Ltd (Australia’s second biggest insurer by value).

The bid was said to be the biggest takeover offer this year.

“Maintaining stimulus measures would help support a further rally in equities and commodities, though it’s not necessarily a positive thing as it means the economy is not recovering at a desirable pace,” said Pauline Dan, Hong Kong-based chief investment officer at Samsung Investment Trust Management, which oversees US$100bil in assets.

At home, the benchmark KLCI was 0.09% higher at 1,261.86 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.31% to 2,666.42.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.34% to 9,823.06, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.07% to 22,063.16, Shanghai’s A share index dropped 0.25% to 3,156.17 and Seoul’s Kospi Index was 0.51% higher at 1,580.44.

At Bursa Malaysia, 263 counters were up, 244 were down while 248 others were traded unchanged. There were 532.76 million shares done with a total value of RM474.487mil.

Gainers included Transocean, which rose 21.5 sen to RM1.08, Hartalega climbed 21 sen to RM5.65, Lityan advanced 18 sen to RM2.56, IJM Corp added 17 sen to RM4.67 and Hong Leong Bank was 15 sen higher at RM8.25.

Among plantation stocks, IOI Corp was up 6 sen to RM5.39 while Boustead added 2 sen to RM3.37.

Meanwhile, Tanjong lost 22 sen to RM16.18, BAT dropped 16 sen to RM46.10 and CIMB fell 14 sen to RM12.64.

Crude palm oil was down RM20 to RM2,226 per tonne.

Nymex crude oil in electronic trade added 97 cents to US$78.40 per barrel.

The ringgit was quoted at 3.3799 to the US dollar.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story