Business

Published: Thursday July 5, 2012 MYT 5:26:00 PM
Updated: Thursday July 5, 2012 MYT 5:35:34 PM

KLCI closes at all-time high for third day

By Joseph Chin


KUALA LUMPUR: Late fund buying powered the FBM KLCI out of the red on Thursday, enabling the 30-stock index to close at an all-time high for the third straight day.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up 0.68 of a point or 0.04% to 1,614.43 after spending most of Thursday in the red in line with the lacklustre Asian markets ahead of the European Central Bank meeting to decide on the monetary policy.

Turnover rose to 1.12 billion shares valued at RM1.33bil, with a large percentage of the volume from the listing of the Felda Global Ventures (FGV) call warrants.

The broader market also improved in the late afternoon, with advancing counters edging decliners 376 to 370 while 344 counters were unchanged.

Wire reports said European shares were flat ahead of a policy decision later on Thursday from the European Central Bank, with the euro near a one-week low on expectations of a rate cut to support fragile growth in the currency bloc.

A 25 basis point cut in the ECB's main rate is widely expected, but investors are waiting to see if the central bank will take other measures, which could include a cut in its deposit rate to encourage banks to lend more of the cash they hold.

Volkswagen AG and Porsche SE both rose more than 3% after VW reached an agreement with Germany's tax authorities to buy the 50.1 percent stake in Porsche that it doesn't already own.

Among the key regional markets Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.27% to 9,079.80; Shanghai's Composite Index 1.17% lower at 2,201.35 and Taiwan's Taiex 0.47% lower at 7,387.78.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.5% to 19,809.13, its highest since May 15, helped by late gains in financials although low turnover suggested many investors were largely staying on the sidelines, wire reports said. South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.06% to 1,875.49 and Singapore's Straits Times Index

US light crude oil fell six cents to US$87.60 but Brent rose 85 cents to US$100.62. Spot gold added US$1.34 to US$1,616.99. The ringgit was quoted at 3.1622 to the US dollar.

The head of an institutional dealing at a local bank-backed brokerage said sentiment was still firm despite that the market was in the red most of the day. Funds were seen picking up big capitalised stocks.

Genting was the top mover in the KLCI, up 24 sen to RM9.66 while UMW rose 23 sen to RM9.70 and RHB Capital 22 sen to RM7.62.

Crude palm oil for third-month futures rose RM19 to RM3,141, the highest since May 30. Genting Plantations rose 40 sen to RM10 but FGV eased two sen to RM5.48. Far East fell 25 sen to RM7.40.

FGV call warrants were actively traded. FGV-CL rose 19.4 sen to 36 sen, FGV-CC two sen to 17 sen (139.6 million units).

Kian Joo rose 20 sen to RM2.53 but Can-One shed eight sen to RM2.97.

Public Invest Research had a Trading Sell call on Can-One following the surge in its share price after securing a 32.9% stake in Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd.

BAT was the top loser, down 32 sen to RM56, Wellcall shed 13 sen to RM2.06, UMS and JTI 11 sen each to RM1.89 and RM6.85 while Bertam shed 8.5 sen to 60.5 sen.

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