KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group and Tenaga Nasional gave blue chips a boost on Thursday and powered the FBM KLCI to the 1,770 mark, mirroring the positive sentiment of most key Asian markets.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 4.59 points or 0.26% to 1,770.59. Turnover was 720.77 million shares valued at RM751.23mil. There were 294 gainers, 300 losers and 494 counters unchanged.

The ringgit rose 0.19% to the US dollar and gained 0.75% to the pound sterling but fell 0.45% to the Singapore dollar at 3.1555 and skidded 0.85% to the euro at 5.0221.

Reuters reported most Southeast Asian stock markets rose in line with global peers on Thursday, as risk appetite returned with the likelihood that a dovish Federal Reserve would leave US rates low for longer than some had expected. 

The central bank maintained its benchmark lending rate and said it was on track to continue the slow path of monetary tightening that has lifted rates by a percentage point since 2015. The Fed also signalled it could begin to cut its massive bond portfolio in the coming months.

At Bursa Malaysia, CIMB rose 17 sen to RM6.57 and pushed the KLCI up 2.54 points while Maybank and AmBAnk added two sen each to RM9.65 and RM5.02, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM20.50 and RM15.82, RHB Bank shed one sen to RM5.07 and BIMB fell seven sen to RM4.38. Aeon Credit rose 44 sen to RM13.94.

Tenaga chalked up a 12 sen gain to RM14.34 and lifted trhe KLCI 1.12 points. IHH Healthcare ros eone sen to RM5.95, Genting Malaysia fell five sen to RM6.05 and Genting Bhd one sen lower at RM9.66 while MISC was flat at RM7.39.

Allianz-PA was the top gainer, up 72 sen to RM15.10 and Allians 32 sen to RM15.18.

Heineken rose 40 sen to RM18.04, BAT 32 sen higher at RM15.18 but Dutch Lady lost 18 sen to RM59.10 and Carlsberg sell 10 sen to RM15.

US light crude oil fell eight cents to US$48.67 and Brent 10 cents lower at US$50.87. 

Among the oil and gas stocks, Dialog rose four sen to RM1.95 in active trade. Petronas Gas added six sen to RM18.96, Petronas Dagangan two sen higher at RM23.88 while Petronas Chemicals fell five sen to RM6.94.

Crude palm oil for third-month delivery rose RM24 to RM2,653 which was the highest since May 22. However, the rebound did not filter into the plantation stocks where Sime Darby and PPB Group were unchanged at RM9.55 and RM16.78, IOI Corp and KL Kepong were flat at RM4.47 and RM16.78.

As for telcos, Digi rose three sen to RM4.78, Maxis two sen higher at RM5.59 while Axiata and Telekom were unchanged at RM4.69 and RM6.37.

Other gainers were JHM, up 18 sen to RM2.74 while Muhibbah added 12 sen to RM2.77 and Superlon 10 sen to RM2.43.

Among the key regional markets,

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.19% to 20,087.56;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.49% to 27,072.46;

CSI 300 fell 0.32% to 3,693.45;

Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.33% to 3,237.04;

Hang Seng China Enterprise gained 0.18% to 10,850.64;

Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.86% to 10,509.15;

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.16% to 2,438.43 and

Singapore’s Straits Times Index was up 0.34% to 3,347.99.

Spot gold rose US$2.17 to US$1,262.70.

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