KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s benchmark stock index pared gains headed into midday as investors looked ahead to the first-quarter economic report and the release of corporate earnings over the coming days.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 0.9 points to 1,431.94. The market breadth was negative with 396 decliners compared with 329 gainers.
Trading volume was 1.55 billion shares valued at RM694.02mil.
On the FBM KLCI, Maxis weighed on the market after sliding 22 sen to RM4.37 while Maybank lost three sen to RM8.72.
Some notable laggards on the broader market included YNH Property falling 11 sen to RM5.09, Heineken sliding 30 sen to RM28.44 and IGB REIT declining nine sen to RM2.87.
Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional gained seven sen to RM9.05, PETRONAS Chemicals added four sen to RM7.10 and CIMB rose three sen to RM5.16.
Top actives included Vinvest up one sen to 21 sen, Fitters unchanged at five sen and Hong Seng flat at 12 sen.
In regional markets, Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.7% to 28,950 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.8% to 2,521.
China’s composite index climbed 1.7% to 3,390 as banks and energy shares climbed on hopes for a rebound in the country’s services consumption.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.9% to 20,227 and Australia’s ASX200 rose 0.7% to 7,272. – The Star