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.
The benchmark KL Composite Index stayed above the key 1,050 level at midday on May 25, led by gains at heavyweights including Genting, Tenaga and Telekom.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI rose 0.52% or 5.43 points to 1,050.69, but off the intra-morning high of 1,053.16. Turnover was 1.03 billion shares valued at RM857.1 million. Gainers led losers by 385 to 147, while 165 counters traded unchanged.
Among the key regional markets, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.5% to 1,382.74 after North Korea fired short-range missle, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.23% to 2,565.72 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.42% to 16,990.43. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1.28% to 9,343.67 and Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.16% to 2,248.96.
Light crude oil fell 27 cents per barrel to US$61.40 in electronic trading as at 1pm today, while crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia derivatives exchange fell RM12 per tonne to RM2,541 for July delivery and down RM5 per tonne to RM2,516 for August delivery.
Genting rose 20 sen to RM5.40 and Resorts 15 sen to RM2.73. DiGi.Com added 20 sen to RM22.60; Boustead was up 18 sen to RM4.34, AMMB Holdings, BHIC and Proton rose 16 sen each to RM3.40, RM4.48 and RM3.04, respectively.
Amway added 15 sen to RM7.50 while Tenaga and Telekom added 10 sen each to RM7.75 and RM3.86. Other gainers included Sime Darby and MMC Corp.
KNM was the most actively traded stock this morning with 67.5 million shares done. The counter rose 4.5 sen to 82.5 sen. Other actively traded stocks included Tebrau, Mulpha, Iris, UEM Land, Scomi, MRCB and Resorts.
BAT was the top loser at midday and fell 25 sen to RM42, PPB lost 20 sen to RM11.10, while KLK, LPI and KFCH fell 10 sen each to RM12, RM10.10 and RM6.95, respectively.
Maybank and MISC lost 5 sen each to RM5.15 and RM8.40 respectively; PLUS fell 6 sen to RM3.26 and IJM lost 5 sen to RM5.60.