KUALA LUMPUR: Banks helped propel the FBM KLCI towards its highest close since Sept 2014 while the ringgit took a step back as the US dollar staged a mild rebound.
Sustained fund buying of Public Bank, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank and CIMB kept the 30-stock index on track to meet its all-time high of 1,896.23 on July 8, 2014.
At 5pm, the KLCI was up 16.6 points or 0.9% to 1,870.52 and it is up 4.1% year-to-date. At the current level, it is trading at a price-to-earnings of nearly 17 times.
Turnover was three billion shares valued at RM2.49bil. The broader market was cautious with decliners beating advancers nearly two to one or 623 losers to 370 gainers and 396 counters unchanged.
The ringgit hit a speed bump against the US dollar to fall 0.36% to 3.8850. It shed 0.04% to the Singapore dollar to 2.9666. However, its climbed 0.41% to the pound sterling at 5.4869 and inched up 0.07% to the euro at 4.8205.
Public Bank was the top gainer among the banks, up 60 sen to RM21.90 and pushed the KLCI up 4.13 points. This was again a fresh record high.
Maybank rose 12 sen to RM10.20 and added 2.30 points while Hong Leong Bank gained 46 sen to RM18.66 and CIMB 10 sen to RM7.16. RHB Bank added four sen to RM5.54 but AmBank lost two sen to RM4.82.
Bursa Malaysia, which benefits from the active stock market, rose 28 sen to RM10.88.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM32 to RM2,516 per tonne. PPB Group added four sen to RM17.56, KL Kepong two sen to RM25.26 but IOI Corp lost four sen to RM4.66.
Among the telcos, Telekom rose 12 sen to RM6.12, Axiata six sen to RM5.68, Digi and Maxis were flat at RM5 and RM6.08.
Nestle was the top gainer, up RM1.60 to RM113.10, Dutch Lady
added 32 sen to RM63.32, Ajinomoto 30 sen to RM20.80 and F&N 28 sen to RM29.10.
US light crude oil rose three cents to US$66.17 but Brent fell 32 cents to US$70.20. Petronas Dagangan lost four sen to RM24.72, Petronas Chemical added five sen to RM8.03 and Petronas Gas gained 12 sen to RM18.42.
Refiners were among the top losers on profit taking after their several months of rally, riding on the rebound of crude oil price. Hengyuan fell 88 sen to RM12.80 and Petron 32 sen down to RM11.56.
Lafarge fell 16 sen to RM5.62. RAM Ratings has downgraded the long-term rating of Lafarge Malaysia Bhd unit's RM500mil Sukuk Wakalah Programme (2017/2024) to A1 from AA2.
The rating agency said on Monday that concurrently, the outlook for the unit Lafarge Cement Sdn Bhd has been revised from negative to stable.
Tenaga was flat at RM15.84, Press Metal added seven sen to RM5.80 while Gentiong Malaysia gained five sen to RM5.60 and Genting Bhd eight sen higher at RM9.68.
On the external front, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell on Monday, ending a seven-day winning streak, as the market took a breather after repeatedly hitting record highs, Reuters reported.
At close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 0.56% at 32,966.89. China's Shanghai Composite Index lost nearly 1% to 3,523 and Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.01% to 23,629.34.
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