Wednesday, March 23, 2011

FBM KLCI edges up as Nikkei pares down losses

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI edged up at the mid-day break on Wednesday, March 23 as Japan's Nikkei 225 pared down its earlier losses, while most key regional also traded in positive territory albeit with limited gains.

The Nikkei earlier fell nearly 2% following the weaker overnight close at Wall Street with the escalation of military assault on Libya following a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over that country.

Regional investors appeared to buy into stocks that had been battered over the past fortnight since the massive earthquake in Japan, but overall sentiment still remains somewhat tepid with the standstill situation in Japan and Libya, as well as protests in Yemen.

Brent crude rose as much as 0.6% on Wednesday, consolidating gains above US$116, as an intensifying unrest in Yemen highlighted the security risks facing oil output from the Arabian peninsula, home to the world's biggest oil fields, according to Reuters.

On Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI edged up 0.04% or 0.54 point to 1,509.64.

Gainers led losers by 405 to 212, while 268 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 736.11 million shares valued at RM634.49 million.

The ringgit weakened 0.02% to 3.0291 versus the US dollar; crude palm oil for the third month delivery rose RM20 per tonne to RM3,328, crude oil slipped 20 cents per barrel to US$104.77, while gold shed 55 cents per troy ounce to 1,427.10.

At the regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.55% to 9,555.93 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.17% to 22,819.83.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.78% to 2,941.88, South Korea's Kospi added 0.31% to 2,019.98, Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.30% to 8,533.37 and Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.60% to 3,020.68.

Among the gainers this morning, Hong Leong Bank and RHB Capital added five sen each to RM9.39 and RM8.05, HLFG and Genting rose two sen each to RM8.88 and RM10.42, while Axiata'' and Maybank were up one sen each to RM4.78 and RM8.73.

Nestle was up 40 sen to RM46.68, United PLANTATION []s 30 sen to RM17, Petronas Dagangan 18 sen to RM14.98, HPI 16 sen to RM3.36, Jaya Tiasa and Genting Plantations 11 sen each to RM5.50 and RM8.12 while DiGi and Ekovest added 10 sen each to RM27.60 and RM3.88.

Ramunia shares and warrants were actively traded on the company's plans to venture into the offshore oil and gas business in Malaysia and the region via a tie-up with Drydocks World of Dubai.

It shares rose four sen to 61 sen while its warrants added 4 sen to 42 sen. ''Other actives included Perisai, KUB, Digistar, Jotech and HWGB.

Decliners this morning included Nilai, Panasonic, Sindora, Paos, Sarawak Oil Palms, Perak Corp and Glenealy.

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