Thursday, December 1, 2011

KLCI pares down gains, struggles to stay above 1,490-level

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 1): The FBM KLCI pared down its gains on Thursday and slipped to below the 1,490-point level, while regional markets chalked up strong gains as coordinated liquidity action by the major central banks boosted investor sentiment.

The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland said on Wednesday they would lower the cost of existing dollar swap lines by 50 basis points from Dec 5, and arrange bilateral swaps to provide liquidity for other currencies, according to Reuters.

The FBM KLCI closed 13.16 points higher at 1,485.26. The index had earlier risen to its intra-day high of 1,502.53.

At the regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 5.63% to 19,002.26, Taiwan's Taiex rose 3.98% to 7,178.69, South Kospi gained 3.72% to 1,916.18, the Shanghai Composite Index added 2.29% to 2,386.86, and Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1.93% to 8,597.38 and Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 2.2% to 2,761.88.

On Bursa Malaysia, BAT was the top gainer and rose RM1.60 to RM48.10; PPB added 52 sen to RM16.58, Cepco rose 40 sen to RM1.91, JobStreet 39 sen to RM2.80, Hong Leong Bank 32 sen to RM10.78, Nestle, Dutch Lady and KLK 30 sen each to RM5.20, RM24.40 and RM21.80 respectively, Shangri-La 28 sen to RM2.38 and Litrak 24 sen to RM3.65.

Genting was the top loser and fell 26 sen to RM10.70; Lafarge Malayan Cement lost 24 sen to RM6.70, MSM 19 sen to RM4.81, Axiata 17 sen to RM4.93, F&N 14 sen to RM18.02, IJM Corp, Tan Chong and MAHB fell 11 sen each to RM5.80, RM4.24 and RM6.08 respectively, while Southern Steel lost 10 sen to RM1.98.

The actively traded counters included Wijaya warrants, Compugates, Utopia, Extol, Karambunai, Hubline and GPRO.

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