KUALA LUMPUR: Fund buying of heavyweights and key blue chips including Genting Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd on May 25 pushed the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) to a new high since September.

Market sentiment remained firm despite the weaker US markets while key regional markets, except for South Korea and Taiwan, managed to shrug off the threat from a nuclear test and missile launch by North Korea.

Genting and Resorts World Bhd surged in active trade on expectations the group could be one of the parties eyeing MGM Mirage Ltd’s speculated sale of its 50% stake in MGM Grand Macau.

OSK Investment Research said although it was too early to speculate on such an outcome due to the licensing agreement, it believed that based on Genting group’s strong appetite for large-scale casino investments in Macau, this could certainly pave the way for the group’s long-awaited entry into Macau’s gaming market.

Genting rose 35 sen to RM5.55, its highest in seven months, with 17.6 million shares done, while Resorts added 21 sen to RM2.79 with 45.7 million shares traded.

Investor sentiment in TM was sparked by the latter’s move to team up with eight telecommunication companies to develop a proposal to build an 8,000km undersea cable system — Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) — that would link Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea. TM shares rose 16 sen to RM3.92.

The KLCI, which traded in positive territory throughout the day, ended 0.75% or 7.88 points higher at 1,053.14. Turnover was 2.02 billion shares valued at RM1.7 billion.

Investors’ conviction was seen in the firmer broader market where advancing counters beat decliners 518 to 155.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.31% higher at 9,347 points, Shanghai’s Composite Index rose 0.48% to 2,610.01, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.35% to 17,121.82, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.99% to 2,267.46.

South Korea’s Kospi Index declined 0.2% to 1,400.9 and Taiwan’s TAIEX Index slipped 0.04% to 6,734.46.

Light crude oil fell 71 cents per barrel to US$60.96 as at 6pm on May 25. Crude palm oil (CPO) futures fell RM76 per tonne to RM2,445 for August delivery and down RM78 per tonne to RM2,475 for July delivery.

The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar on May 25 with the greenback facing selling pressure due to rising concern over the possibility of the US government’s debt rating being revised downwards, and was quoted at 3.4870 from May 22’s close of 3.4900.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Citigroup Inc chief economist for Singapore and Malaysia Kit Wei Zheng forecast that the ringgit might reach 3.54 per dollar in three months, 3.48 in six months and 3.37 in 12 months.

Kit said the economy was in recession with a 4.1% contraction in the first quarter. Bank Negara Malaysia will announce the first-quarter GDP data on May 27.

He said the government would probably revise its growth forecast. “Whatever the number, it is important to see the rationale behind the downgrade. The issue is whether there is a fundamental change in the outlook for the economy. We don’t think this is the case.”

“If you believe the worst is past us, then we think that’s what the market should be focusing on and that’s what the market has been doing. We are less negative on the outlook,” Kit said.

At Bursa, Tenaga added 10 sen to RM7.75; Sime Darby Bhd rose five sen to RM6.95, Hong Leong Industries Bhd rose 56 sen to RM4 and DiGi.Com Bhd added 20 sen to RM22.60.

Boustead Holdings Bhd rose 30 sen to RM4.46 and Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd 24 sen to RM4.56.

Companies related to the Iskandar Malaysia project also continued to attract interest, including Tebrau Teguh Bhd, UEM Land Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and Tradewinds (M) Bhd, which were among actively traded stocks.

Tebrau rose 1.5 sen to 77.5 sen with 69.9 million shares done, UEM Land was up two sen to RM1.64 with 50.4 million shares traded, MRCB up five sen to RM1.34 with 40.2 million shares done while Tradewinds added 11 sen to RM3.06.

KNM Group Bhd was the most actively traded stock on May 25 with 107 million shares traded. The counter rose 3.5 sen to 81.5 sen.

PPB Group Bhd fell 30 sen to RM11; Kuala Lumpur-Kepong Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd and KFC Holdings (M) Bhd lost 10 sen each to RM12, RM10.10 and RM6.95, respectively, while Malayan Banking Bhd fell five sen to RM5.15.

Mudajaya Group Bhd fell 12 sen to RM1.47, Ipmuda Bhd shed 11 sen to 79 sen while Hexagon Holdings Bhd lost 10 sen to RM1.17.