KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): The FBM KLCI finished 5.94 points or 0.37% higher today, led by gains in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) shares and as world markets cheered China's better-than-expected March export growth numbers.
 
At 5pm today, the KLCI settled at 1,630.17 after falling to its intraday low at 1,623.44. The KLCI closed up today on bargain hunting after yesterday's 5.23-point or 0.93% drop.

Today, MAHB shares closed 21 sen or 3.18% higher at RM6.82 while TNB rose 22 sen or 1.82% to RM12.28. MAHB and TNB were the top and second-largest gainer respectively, in percentage terms, among the 30 KLCI stocks.

Bargain hunting was apparent in TNB's share price rise today following yesterday's 52 sen or 4.13% decline.

Today, TA Securities Holdings Bhd senior technical analyst Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com that following the recovery in TNB's share price, more gains can be expected in the market next week. Soo said yesterday's selling in TNB shares was "overdone".

Across Asia today, China shares were closely watched against the nation's better-than-expected export growth numbers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng erased losses to close up 0.24% on the news while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite cut losses to end flat.

Reuters, quoting official data, reported that China's March exports rose 14.2 percent from a year earlier, better than analysts' expectations, while imports dropped 7.6 percent, a sharper decline than forecast.

It was reported that analysts polled by Reuters had expected March shipments from the world's largest exporter to have increased 7.3 percent from a year earlier, after a sharp drop of 20.8 percent in February. It was reported that imports were expected to have dropped 1.3 percent, narrowing from 5.2 percent fall in the preceding month.