Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): The FBM KLCI tracked Asian market gains on bargain hunting and as fund managers' quarter-end window dressing supported equity gains.
 
The rise in Asian shares was despite anticipation of Greece's debt default. Reuters, quoting a Greece government official, reported the country would not pay a 1.6 billon euro loan instalment due the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.

Malaysia's KLCI recovered by 0.9% to finish at 1,706.64 points at 5pm. Across Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.63%, South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.67% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.09%.

The KLCI had risen on gains in shares like Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and Public Bank Bhd. The KLCI gained after dropping 18.55 points or 1.1% yesterday (June 29).

Today, TA Securities technical analyst Steven Soo said the market’s gain was led by window dressing, "to correct yesterday’s fall".

Soo said there was overreaction by investors to Greece’s financial woes.

“Aside from window-dressing activities, the increase in index points today can also be seen as a delayed reaction to China’s stimulus," he told theedgemarkets.com.

Overall, Bursa Malaysia saw 1.75 billion shares, valued at RM2.25 billion traded. There were 495 gainers against 309 decliners, while 309 counters remained unchanged.

The top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, while Chin Teck Plantations Bhd led decliners.

The most actively-traded stock today was newly-listed Xin Hwa Holdings Bhd, with about 76 million shares having changed hands.

Xin Hwa rose 16 sen or 23% to close at 86 sen from its initial public offering price of 70 sen.
 
In currency markets, the ringgit strengthed against the US dollar at 3.7743. The ringgit however, weakened against the Singapore dollar at 2.8039
 
Reuters reported that most emerging Asian currencies rose on Tuesday, helped by the dollar's overnight weakness, but most are set to suffer quarterly losses on expectations of higher U.S. interest rates and concerns over Greece's endless debt problems.

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