KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): The FBM KLCI rose 0.7% at midday break as former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak was found guilty by the High Court here today of abuse of power in relation to RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 11.14 points to 1,602.62 as index-linked glove makers lifted.

Gainers led losers by 370 to 335, while 703 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was a robust 7.48 billion shares valued at RM4.41 billion.

The top gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, DKSH Holdings (M) Bhd, Rubberex Corp Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included XOX Bhd, AT Systematization Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Key Alliance Group Bhd, Ageson Bhd, ManagePay Systems Bhd, Bioalpha Holdings Bhd and Iris Corp Bhd.

The decliners included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Kluang Rubber Company (Federation of Malaya) Bhd, Duopharma Biotech Bhd, YNH Property Bhd, Mesiniaga Bhd and Scientex Bhd.

Reuters said gold hurtled to record peaks on Tuesday before the sheer scale of its gains drew a burst of profit taking, which lifted the US dollar from two-year lows and curbed early equity gains.

The precious metal had stormed almost US$40 higher at one point to reach US$1,980 an ounce, only for a wave of selling to slap it back to US$1,947 in wild trade, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said while fundamentals are subdued, this will likely remain masked by liquidity factors.

It said that domestically, the “retail liquidity fuel” is showing no signs of abating while externally, the US Federal Reserve’s unlimited QE arsenal could see some spillover to emerging markets, Malaysia included, which now has foreign shareholding at a decade low.

“The playing field seems unfavourable for the bears with short selling ban extended coupled with an asymmetric revision to stock price limits.

“US markets have generally performed positive in their election years (74% hit rate for S&P500 and 70% for DJIA), possibly boosting trading sentiment for Malaysia.

“We revise our KLCI target from 1,460 to 1,640 (18.5x 'liquidity driven PE' tagged to CY21 earnings),” it said.