KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): The FBM KLCI rose for the fifth day on Thursday and extended its gains at mid-morning, in line with the advance at key regional markets.
The FBM KLCI rose 1.15 points to 1,646.15 at 10am.
There were 224 gainers and 156 losers, while 257 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 183.10 million shares valued at RM167.14 million.
Asian shares rose on Thursday as strong corporate profits from U.S. bellwethers allayed fears of a slowdown in earnings while the euro steadied after being hit by reported comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that rekindled fears about the euro zone debt crisis, according to Reuters.
Japan's Nikkei was up 1.2 percent although market players warned that appreciation in the yen could limit gains as shares of exporters such as car makers and electronics manufacturers come under pressure, it said.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 hit its highest level since early May helped by quarterly numbers from bellwethers such as Intel Corp and Honeywell and housing starts data that came in better than expected, it said.
At the regional markets, Japans’ Nikkei 225 was up 0.73% to 8,790.15, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.99% to 19430.00, the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.23% to 2,174.17, Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.04% to 7,122.49, South Korea’s Kospi added 1.34% to 1,818.99 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.46% to 3,030.97.
On Bursa Malaysia, United Plantations rose 60 sen to RM25.90, Nestle 28 sen to RM59.40, Allianz 20 sen to RM5.67, Sungei Bagan 18 sen to RM3.03, Bursa 15 sen to RM6.66, Ta Ann 11 sen to RM4.98, MBM Resources and Dutch Lady 10 sen each to RM4.12 and RM36.10, IOI CORP nine sen to RM5.38 and Aeon Credit eight sen to RM11.28.
Cybertowers was the most actively traded counter with 15.01 million shares done. The stock fell 5.5 sen to 31.5 sen.
Other actives included Fitters, SapuraKencana, AT Systemization, Century Software, Naim Indah Corp and Permaju.
Decliners included BAT, Keck Seng, Pharmaniaga, Cybertowers, Hing Yap, Favelle Favco, Bina Puri and Tradewinds.