Bursa Malaysia edges higher on buying in plantation, small-cap stocks

KUALALUMPUR:BursaMalaysia ended the trading day slightly higher on continued buying support in plantation counters, namely Sime Darby Plantation, KLK and United Plantations, and small-cap stocks.

However, the bullish momentum was capped by profit-taking in finance-related counters, which saw gains on Monday following the Bank Negara’s decision to trim the statutory reserve requirement ratio from 3.5 per cent to three per cent.

Hong Leong Bank declined 24 sen to RM16.96 and Maybank slipped six sen to RM8.79.

The index was mostly higher yesterday except during midmorning when it was in the red.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 1.58 points to 1,609.73 compared with Monday’s close of 1,608.15.

The key index opened 4.03 points higher at 1,612.18 and moved between 1,605.71 and 1,614.21 throughout the day.

In the broader market, gainers beat losers 416 against 397, with 429 counters unchanged, 751 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume widened to 2.49 billion shares worth RM1.82 billion from yesterday’s 2.37 billion shares worth RM1.64 billion.

A dealer said plantation stocks became the top gainers with Sime Darby climbing 17 sen to RM5.15, KLK rising 16 sen to RM22.36 and United Plantations adding 10 sen to RM25.30.

“This was after the palm oil inventory for October declined 4.1 per cent month-on-month to 2.3 million metric tonnes, coupled with recovery in exports.

“Lower stocks, lower production and high demand for palm oil will push the commodity’s price higher;, hence we would see a good ending (fourth-quarter results) for plantation companies this year,” he said.

On the external factors, the dealer said that sentiment was still wary amid uncertainty over the US-China trade talks and the domestic political situation in Hong Kong.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped six sen to RM8.79, Tenaga lost 12 sen to RM13.68, and Public Bank eased two sen to RM19.98, but Petronas Chemicals was nine sen better at RM7.80.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy was flat at 29 sen, Bumi Armada gained 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen, and both Velesto Energy and DGB were half-a-sen higher at 39 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.

As for the top losers, Fraser & Neave led the list, erasing 40 sen to RM34.60, and Shangri-La lost 22 sen to RM5.07. Malaysia Airports fell 15 sen to RM8.20 after the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia confirmed last night the country’s aviation safety downgrade by the US Federal Aviation Administration, but AirAsia X rose 1 sen to 17.5 sen.