Saturday, June 12, 2010

Share prices end higher on positive note

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Friday, June 11 bolstered by the rally on Wall Street and the release of encouraging export data from China, indicating the economy was returning to the growth path, dealers said.

The FBM KLCI added 3.36 points or 0.26% to close at 1,294.67, aided by gains mostly in Axiata, MISC, PPB, Genting and Maybank.

The 30-stock index traded between 1,294.67 and 1,302.07 throughout the day. Advancers led decliners 379 to 193 while 283 counters were unchanged.'' ''Volume declined to 501.72 million shares worth RM839.56 million from 733.253 million units valued at RM743.08 million on Thursday.

A dealer said the market was heading upwards with the benchmark climbing to the 1,324-level supported by overseas leads.

Overnight, the Dow Jones jumped 273.28 points 10,172.53, Nasdaq was up 59.86 points to 2,218.71 while the S&P 500 rose 31.15 points to 1,086.84.

Among Southeast Asian markets, Indonesian shares gained more than 1%, leading gains in most other Asean markets, as investors bought resource shares because of strength in oil prices.

Optimism that the world economic recovery was on track despite Europe's debt woes bolstered sentiment, although stock markets in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam posted smaller gains.

Indonesia's index ended at its highest since June 7 but it posted a loss on the week of 0.76 percent despite foreign buying of US$79.18 million, down from last week's foreign buying of US$146 million.

Asia's second-best-performing market trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.1, the highest in Southeast Asia, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

"Indonesian stocks look overvalued compared to the region. It has priced in recent positive factors, including a decision by Indonesia's central bank to keep its policy rate unchanged," said John Teja, a director at Ciptadana Securities in Jakarta.

"It's likely that the market will be weighed down next week by profit-taking," he said.

Among gainers in Jakarta, state gas operator PT Perusahaan Gas Negara rose 3.4 percent and energy firm PT Indika Energy was up 1.8 percent. Automotive firms also gained including a 0.6 percent rise in automotive distributor Astra International and a 3.7 percent rise in United Tractors.

Markets in the region performed worse than last week although Chinese economic data, which came out late in the week, helped shore up sentiment.

In Manila, the index climbed 1.3 percent on Friday, led by a 3.5 percent rise in Bank of the Philippine Islands, the country's third-biggest bank, and a 1.9 percent rise in Ayala Land.

Foreign investors were net buyers on the week in the Philippines and Vietnam, taking US$46.3 million and US510,000 respectively, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Bucking the trend, Thailand suffered net foreign selling of about US$100 million on the week, with foreigners still cautious
over the political situation in the country.

The Thai government is working on a reconciliation plan to mend political divisions and pave the way for elections after
bloody anti-government protests.

Among outperformers in Bangkok on Friday were property and media sectors, which gained after positive consumer confidence in May, with Pruksa Real Estate, the second-largest housing developer by market capitalisation, rising 4.4 percent.

In Singapore, banking shares extended gains amid optimism about growth in the city-state's economy, with top lender DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank each rising more than 1%. - Bernama, Reuters


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