KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed on a firm note on Tuesday but lack of strong follow-through buying support saw the FBM KLCI unable to stay above the 1,730 resistance level, though trading volume had been heavy over the past five days.

At 5pm, the KLCI was up 1.3 points or 0.08% to 1,728.66. Turnover was 3.39 billion shares valued at RM2.92bil. Turnover on Bursa has been over three billion shares since March 1.

The breadth of the market was firmer with 586 gainers, 320 losers and 357 counters unchanged.

A technical chartist said the KLCI must close above the 1,730 for a convincing breakthrough.

The US dollar steadied against a basket of currencies in early European trade on Tuesday, still stuck below highs hit in December and January after two weeks in which expectations for a rise in US interest rates this month have soared, Reuters reported. 

The ringgit was unchanged against the US dollar at 4.4480 while it advanced against the pound sterling to 5.4300 from 5.4559 and rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1526 from 3.15259. It firmed up against the Euro to 4.7074 from 4.7262.

Hong Kong stocks were firm on Tuesday, as Chinese Internet giant Tencent led tech shares higher for the second day, after Beijing identified the sector as key to China's economic restructuring, Reuters reported.
 
At Bursa Malaysia, HLFG rose 10 sen to RM15.76, AmBank closed up nine sen to RM4.99, RHB Bank added eight sen to RM5.20 and Public Bank was flat at RM19.94. CIMB shed one sen to RM5.45 while Maybank and Hong Leong Bank lost two sen each to RM8.80 and RM13.58.

Other financial stocks which closed higher were AeonCredit, up 32 sen to RM15.80, insurer Allianz-PA rose 22 sen to RM11.30 and Allianz ended up 14 sen to RM11.50.

Crude palm oil for third-month delivery fell RM48 to RM2,845 per tonne on concerns about weakening demand.

IOI Corp was the biggest mover among the KLCI stocks, up 11 sen to RM4.81 and added 1.17 points. KL Kepong rose 20 sen to RM24.58 and PPB Group 14 sen to RM16.78 while Sime Darby lost three sen to RM9.11.

UMW rose 16 sen to RM5.95, Genting seven sen higher at RM9.48, Tenaga added two sen to RM13.70 but Genting Malaysia shed eight sen to RM5.44.

US light crude oil and Brent rose 14 cents each to US$53.34 and US$56.16. Bumi Armada rose 3.5 sen to 74.5 sen. Petronas Chemicals added five sen to RM7.48, Petronas Gas fell 22 sen to RM19.60 and Petronas Dagangan lost six sen to RM24.34.

Among the telcos, Digi added three sen to RM5.07, Maxis two sen higher at RM6.40, Axiata one sen higher at RM4.71 but Telekom fell three sen to RM6.25.

Hovid rose in active trade after its Chemor was given the go-ahead to resume its operations. Its shares rose 2.5 sen to 34 sen and warrants, Hovid-WB added 3.5 sen to 20 sen.

Among the key regional markets,

Japan’s Nikkei 225fell 0.18% to 19,344.15;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.36% to 23,681.07;

CSI 300 added 0.22% to 3,453.96;

Shanghai’s Composite Index gained 0.26% to 3,242.41;

Hang Seng China Enterprise added 0.58% to 10,229.68;

Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.57% to 9,738.07;

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.61% to 2,094.05; and 

Singapore’s Straits Times Index ended up 0.29% to 3,130.44.

Spot gold fell US$1.27 to US$1,224.02.

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