KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips rose in early trade Friday, boosted by gains in DiGi, Genting and KNM tracking the gains in major Asian markets, as consumers heaved a sigh of relief after oil prices fell overnight to US$126.54 (RM410.16) per barrel.
At 10am, the KLCI rose 9.67 points to 1,271.49. Turnover was 104.91 million shares valued at RM273.83mil. There were 168 gainers, 130 losers while 173 stocks were unchanged.
In New York, Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday as a swift drop in oil soothed inflation fears, while an upward revision in a broad measure of US economic growth suggested a recession might be avoided.
Financial companies, many of which have credit card units, have suffered some of the biggest losses this year. The sector outperformed most others following the MasterCard announcement and a government report that revised upward gross domestic product growth in the first quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 52.19 points, or 0.41%, at 12,646.22.
Asian markets rose with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opening 0.26% higher at 24,448.37 while the Shanghai A Share Index added 0.42% to 3,583.84, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to 14,251.08 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.13% to 3,164.84.
DiGi jumped RM1 to RM26, PPB and KLK added 40 sen each to RM11.40 and RM17.60 while KNM gained 20 sen to RM6.65. Lafarge Cement rose 14 sen to RM4.44 and Jaya Tiasa 12 sen to RM3.92.
Genting gained 25 sen to RM6.10 despite its net profit for the first quarter fell 33% to RM439mil.
AirAsia added three sen to RM1.04 after its first quarter earnings surged to RM161mil but the low cost carrier was bracing for more challenging times ahead on high oil price.
IOI Properties fell 20 sen to RM10.20, Gamuda 19 sen to RM2.79 and Tradewinds 15 sen lower to RM5 while Proton gave up 12 sen to RM3.48.
