Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Asian stocks make slight gains, KLCI off day's best

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian stocks rose slightly on Tuesday, March 8 as crude oil prices eased after Arab media were reported as saying embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was looking for an agreement to step down.

However, the gains at the regional markets were limited as investor sentiment remained tepid given the uncertainties over how long the escalating tensions would persist.

The FBM KLCI rose 0.09% or 1.42 points to 1,517.16 at the mid-day break. It had earlier risen to its intra-morning high of 1,525.01 before giving some up some of its gains.

Losers overtook gainers by 286 to 264, while 282 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 448.53 million shares valued at RM707.1 million.

The ringgit weakened 0.03% to 3.0315 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil for the third month delivery fell RM98 per tonne to RM3,567, crude oil fell 71 cents per barrel to US$104.73 while gold added 23 cents per troy ounce to US$1,432.28.

Brent crude fell below $115 on reports that Gaddafi was looking for a way to step down and end the fighting that has slashed the nation's exports, and investors were also soothed by OPEC assurances of supply to the marker, according to Reuters.

As much as one million barrels of Libyan output has been disrupted by clashes between Gaddafi and rebels, or about two-thirds of normal production, according to Reuters.'' That is just above 1% of global daily consumption, it said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index +0.23% 23,367.02 Japan's Nikkei 225
+0.07% 10,511.92 Taiwan's Taiex
+0.23% 8,733.69 South Korea's Kosp +1.2% 2,003.94 Singapore's Straits Times Index +0.40% 3,078.80 Shanghai Composite Index -0.40% 2,984.14 ''

Among the gainers were BAT, up 42 sen to RM47.78, DiGi 24 sen to RM27.86, Lafarge 18 sen to RM7.30, S P Setia and Hap Seng 15 sen each to RM6.32 and RM6.72, while Guan Chong and Panasonic added 14 sen each to RM2.04 and RM19.

Berjaya Food which made its debut on the Main Market was the most active with 29.8 million shares done. The stock added 13 sen to 64 sen.

Other actives included HWGB, SAAG. Perisai, Petronas Chemicals and DRB-Hicom.

Decliners included BLD PLANTATION []s that fell 17 sen to RM5.13, Subur Tiasa and Mudajaya 11 sen each to RM2.21 and RM4.47, Handal Resources 10.5 sen to 68 sen, Bintulu Port nine sen to RM6.51 and Genting Plantations down eight sen to RM7.88.

No comments:

Post a Comment