Business

Published: Thursday December 6, 2012 MYT 1:26:00 PM

Relief rebound for KLCI, boost from Public Bank, CIMB

By Joseph Chin


KUALA LUMPUR: Some fund buying of Public Bank and CIMB pushed the FBM KLCI higher at midday on Thursday but the broader market displayed some signs of profit taking on lower liners.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 3.10 points or 0.19% to 1,616.89. Turnover was 348.81 million shares valued at RM4645.27mil. There were 198 gainers, 280 losers and 313 stocks unchanged.

OSK Research said the KLCI had successfully pulled itself back above the 200-day MAV line. The market might be experiencing a relief rebound for the rest of the week. For now, the bulls have the upper hand against the bears.

"We maintain our near-term bullish technical outlook," it said. It added the Immediate support was now at the 200-day MAV line at the 1,610-level.

"Look for the 1,600 psychological mark as the next support. To the upside, minor hurdles can be seen at the 1,624 and 1,660 levels," it said.

Key regional markets were mixed as investors awaited the European Central Bank's policy decision later in the day and US jobs data on Friday for clues on the state of the U.S. economy after recent mixed reports, according to wire reports.

Among the key regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.71% to 9,536.45 and South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1% to 1,948.97.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.03% to 22,263.61; Shanghai's Composite Index 0.32% to 2,205.33 and Taiwan's Taiex was down 0.32% to 7,624.54 while Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 0.15% to 3,071.19.

US light crude oil fell 13 cents to US$87.75 but Brent inched up five cents to US$108.86 and spot gold fell below US$1,700, down US$2.37 to US$1,691.53.

The ringgit eased against the US dollar to 3.0461 from 3.0413.

Public Bank rose six sen to RM15.62 and pushed the KLCI up 0.66 of a point while CIMB gained four sen to RM7.58 and added 0.69 of a point to the index. Hong Leong Bank rose four sen to RM14.74 and Maybank three sen to RM9.10 and AMMB two sen to RM6.53.

Aeon Credit was the top gainer, up 96 sen to RM13.30 while Aeon added 16 sen to RM12.

BAT rose 58 sen to RM58.28 and Nestle 52 sen to RM63.50. Calrsberg fell eight sen to RM12.86.

Astro fell three sen to RM2.94 in active trade after the recent rebound in its share price.

Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM18 to RM2,302.

However, plantation stocks fell on worries about weaker October-December earnings. Far East fell 50 sen to RM6.80, United Plantations 10 sen to RM24.40 and Sarawak Oil Palm seven sen lower at RM5.90. Heavyweight IOI lost two sen to RM4.83.

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