KL shares rebound to close higher

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia rebounded in the afternoon session to close higher today lifted by gains mostly in banking
stocks, dealers said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose four points to end at 1,657.96.

The benchmark index, which opened at 1652.32, hovered between 1,649.99 and 1,658.68 throughout the day.

Hong Leong Financial Group and RHB Capital were among the top gainers today, adding 42 sen and 18 sen to close at RM15.06 and RM8.38, respectively.

Advancers led decliners by 361 to 340, with 266 counters unchanged, 665 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Total volume rose to 856.45 million shares valued at RM1.71 billion from 786.53 million shares worth RM1.67 billion on Friday.

Among Asian equities, Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 1.13 points to 23,090.82 and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite fell 20.18 points to 4,854.31.

China's Shanghai Composite eased 8.02 points to 2,310.59 but Singapore's Straits Times Index added 5.41 points to 3,294.94.

On the local front, the Finance Index jumped 104.47 points to 15,403.95, the Industrial Index rose 10.02 points to 2,846.52 and the Plantation Index improved 27.36 points to 7,971.27.

The FBM Emas Index rose 26.61 points to 11,317.76, FBMT100 added 26.02 points to 11,161.52, FBM Ace Index was 11.45 points higher at 4,001.61 and the FBM Mid 70 Index increased 24.92 points to 12,486.36.

Among heavyweights, Maybank advanced 13 sen to RM9.26, Sime Darby and CIMB eased one sen each to RM9.20 and RM7.25, respectively, while Axiata dipped two sen to RM6.40.

Among gainers, Petronas Dagangan and Keck Seng rose 30 sen each to RM23.58 and RM4.93, respectively, while Nestle and Lafarge Malayan went up 22 sen each to RM60.42 and RM10.26, respectively.

Among active stocks, Patimas Computers and DSC Solutions eased half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen and nine sen, respectively, Compugates Holdings was flat at nine sen and GPRO Technologies added half-a-sen to 12 sen.

Volume on the Main Market increased to 695.46 million shares valued at RM1.69 billion from 684.34 million shares worth RM1.66 billion on Friday.

Turnover on the ACE market rose to 128.01 million units worth RM15.95 million from 79.44 million units worth RM94.42 million previously.

Warrants rose to 31.80 million units valued at RM3.02 million from 20.92 million units worth RM2.01 million last Friday.

Consumer products accounted for 30.42 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 83.13 million, construction 33.36 million, trade and services 256.91 million, technology 82.7 million, infrastructure 16.7 million, finance 58.94 million, hotels 552,900, properties 87.5 million, plantations 34.06 million, mining 50,900, REITs 10.95 million and closed/fund 168,000.-- Bernama