FBM KLCI firm at mid-day

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) held on to its earlier gains at mid-day, finishing up 4.04 pts to 1,500.66.

Among the gainers, Nestle added 16 sen to RM43.36, Genting was up 16sen to RM10.24 while Kulim, which requested for a trading halt of its shares from 9.30am, added 16 sen to RM13.54 just before its suspension.

QSR Brands and KFC were also among the top gainers before the counters requested for trading halts from 9.30am pending a material announcement.

QSR was up 29 sen to RM5.76 while KFCH added 28 sen to RM4.25 prior to the suspension.

"Following yesterday's 6.9-point drop which apparently was caused mainly by Maybank (as the stock went ex-dividend for 44 sen per share, thus contributed to a 4.8-index point decline) we expect the benchmark FBM KLCI to bounce up today and cross the psychological mark of 1,500," Hwang DBS said in its morning note to clients before the market opened.

Essentially, sentiment will likely get a boost from the overnight surge on Wall Street where major U.S. indexes jumped between 1.5% and 1.6% at the closing bell lifted by hopes that Ireland's debt crisis is about to be resolved while the U.S. economy is showing signs of recovery, Hwang noted.

Crude palm oil 3-month futures were up RM39 to RM3,279 per tonne.

Nymex crude oil lost 31 cents to US$81.54 per barrel.

The ringgit was quoted at 3.123 to the US dollar.
(Source: The Star Online)