, banks, Tenaga Nasional and Sime Plantation, as investor sentiment perked up in the afternoon session.At 5pm, the KLCI was up 10.92 points or 0.72% to 1,530.35. Turnover was 6.60 billion shares valued at RM2.89bil. The broader market showed improvement with 718 gainers to 307 losers and 412 counters unchanged.
World shares pushed on from one-month highs, with Asian stocks closing in on two-and-a-half-year highs, as expectations grew of a Democratic victory in US elections next month, reviving hopes for more US stimulus, Reuters reported. The ringgit rose 0.37% against the US dollar to 4.1375.
Glove makers continued to attract interest. Hartalega rose 40 sen to RM17.40 and added 2.79 points to the KLCI while Top Glove eked out a one sen gain to RM8.81.
Among the banks, Maybank extended its gains for the second day, up 10 sen to RM7.40 and added 2.29 points, Public Bank 14 sen to RM16.14 and CIMB five sen to RM3.16 but RHB Bank shed four sen to RM4.52 and Hong Leong Bank 10 sen to RM15.10.
Tenaga added 14 sen to RM10.40 and nudged the KLCI up 1.62 points, MISC17 sen to RM7.10, IHH six sento RM5.06, Genting two sen to RM3.25 while GentingM was flat at RM2.10.
A rally in crude palm oil prices helped plantation stocks. CPO for third month delivery rose RM50 to RM2,938 per tonne.
This saw Sime Plantation adding 11 sen to RM5.16, PPB Group 30 sen to RM19.18, IOI Corp ne sen to RM4.44 but KL Kepong lost 20 sen to RM22.50.
However, crude oil prices fell and weighed on Petronas-linked stocks. US light crude oil fell 40 cents to US$40.79 and Brent 39 cents lower at US$42.95.
Petronas Gas fell 58 sen to RM16.36 and erased 2.34 points, Petronas Dagangan lost 30 sen to RM19.36 but Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM6.02. Dialog shed one sen to RM3.79.
As for telcos, Axiata added eight sen to RM2.98, Telekom five sen to RM4.18, Digi two sen to RM4.15 but Maxis fell four sen to RM5.05.
Malayan United Industries (MUI) and its related stocks saw active trade on political speculation. MUI was flat at 14 sen, PM Holdings up four sen to 18.5 sen and PMCorp added two sen to 17 sen.
Among the key Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.12 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.49% while Singapore's Straits Times Index was down by 0.4%. However, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.68% and the SCI 300 2.04% while Taiwan's Taiex added 1.1%.
Spot gold rose US$19.89 to US$1,913.71 per troy ounce.