KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI finished higher on Monday, buoyed by buying support in banking stocks, ahead of Bank Negara’s Malaysia's overnight policy rate (OPR) decision.
At 5pm, the 30-stock index was up 3.4 points, or 0.21% to 1,614.42.
The broader market, however, showed weakness, with 529 gainers, 666 losers, and 480 counters unchanged on Bursa Malaysia. About 4.65 billion shares, valued at RM3.84bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the cautious market sentiment was also affected by the impending decision on Bank Negara's OPR.
According to a Bloomberg survey, all four economists expect another pause from Bank Negara at 3.00%.
Johor Plantations Group, which debuted on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia, closed up 7.14%, or six sen to 90 sen with 178.24 million shares traded.
Among the gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries
jumped 86 sen to RM40.26, ViTrox rose 24 sen to RM4.40, Affin added 20 sen to RM2.80 and Tenaga Nasional gained 20 sen to RM14.42.
Dutch Lady tumbled RM1.02 to RM34.40, F&N lost 48 sen to RM31.38, Ayer declined 30 sen to RM7 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 28 sen to RM19.967.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 47093, down 0.01% against the US dollar. The local currency gained 0.06% against the Singapore dollar at 3.4875.
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 53 cents to US$81.80 and Brent declined 50 cents to US$85.25 per barrel.
Asian bourses closed broadly higher today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.96%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed flat, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.34% and China’s CSI300 Index rose 1.12%.
