Friday, February 18, 2011

Bank prop up FBM KLCI, ends week on strong note

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended the week on a firm note, registering gains for the fourth day on Friday, Feb 18 ahead of the announcement of the country's gross domestic product data on Friday, Feb 18.

In a statement released after market close, Bank Negara said the country's economy grew 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2010, underpinned by higher private and public sector spending.

'The slower growth in the global economy, however, had led to weaker growth in external demand,' it said. For the year as a whole, the Malaysian economy grew 7.2% (2009:-1.7%),' it said.

MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said the fourth quarter 2010 GDP growth of 4.8% was slightly above the research house's estimate, and confirmed its hypothesis that the 5%-level was a bit too fast for the economy.

Malaysia therefore joins Taiwan as the two countries in East Asia showing a deceleration in economic growth, he said.

'The market this week was still reeling from a selldown by foreign investors. Preliminary data from Bursa shows that foreign investors were still net sellers this week. Last week, they sold in terms of gross value, RM4.3 billion of Malaysia equity. This week, we estimate a gross outflow of about RM2 billion.

The FBM KLCI advanced 0.60% or nine points to 1,517.56, lifted by gains at banking and blue chip stocks.

Gainers led losers by 472 to 333, while 328 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.5 billion shares valued at RM1.98 billion.

Among the major gainers today, Maybank and RHB Capital rose nine sen each to RM8.59 and RM8.21, CIMB seven sen to RM8.24, HLFG five sen to RM8.79 and Public Bank four sen to RM13.10.

Genting, Petronas Dagangan and KLK added 22 sen each to RM10.34, RM12.92 and RM22.02, PPB Group up 36 sen to RM16.68, Tenaga 11 sen to RM6.26, Petronas Chemicals eight sen to RM6.23 while Axiata rose six sen to RM5.14.

Other gainers included Kulim, Hap Seng, Tradewinds, KFCH and Malayan Flour Mills.

Tasek jumped 60 sen to RM7.90 after its fourth quarter earnings for the period ended Dec 31, 2010 surged 325% to RM69.1 million and it also proposed bumper dividends, comprising of preference dividend of 6%, ordinary dividend 30% and special dividend 50%.

Decliners included Kluang, Southern Steel, Inno Bio, YTL Corp, Allianz and Shell, while the actives included Dialog, Karambunai, Tanco, Axiata, Iris Corp and Mulpha.

Meanwhile, regional markets also mostly ended higher, with Hong Kong s posting their biggest weekly returns in three months, as another session of healthy turnover suggested investors were growing in confidence, according to Reuters.

However, China's main stock index fell as investors sold off large-cap shares on worries over further monetary tightening ahead of the weekend, it said.

At the regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.26% to 23,595.24, Taiwan's Taiex jumped 1.84% to 8,843.84, South Korea's Kospi 1.82% to 2,013.14, Singapore's Straits Times Index up 0.13% to 3,086.92, Japan's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.06% to 10,842.80 while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.93% to 2,899.79.

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