KUALA LUMPUR Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained firmer at the end of the morning session today on buying in key heavyweights especially power and plantation stocks, said dealers.
At the lunch break, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) gained 2.95 points to 1,044.02 after opening 3.50 points higher at 1,044.57.
Analysts attributed the lift in the local market to power-related stocks which gained from the government's decision to scrap the windfall profit levy imposed on independent power producers and suspend renegotiations of power purchase agreements with them.
However, the uptrend in the morning market was capped by losses in Tenaga Nasional following the announcement.
Meanwhile, they said palm oil-related stocks also got some much-needed boost when crude palm oil prices edged up over concerns of Hurricane Ike potentially disrupting refineries and productions in the United States.
The Finance Index rose 100.75 points to 8,619.47, the Industrial Index went up 12.50 points to 2,186.87 and the Plantation Index increased 29.39 points to 5,021.88.
Of the FTSE-BM Index series, the FBMEmas added 18.20 points to 6,941.14, the FBM30 was 22.88 points higher at 6,743.98, while the FBM2BRD lost 25.88 points to 5,010.82 and the FBM-MDQ edged up 4.40 points to 4,108.93. Losers led gainers by 214 to 189, while 208 counters were unchanged, 735 still untraded and 24 other counters suspended.
Volume amounted to 167.539 million shares valued at RM311.894 million (S$129.79 million).
Among active stocks, KNM gained five sen to RM1.17, YTLPWR-WB rose three sen to 53 sen, YTL Power added four sen to RM1.79 while Tenaga Nasional dropped 5.5 sen to RM7.35.
Heavyweights Maybank increased 20 sen to RM7.70 while Sime Darby and Genting each rose five sen to RM6.00 and RM5.20 respectively.
Tanjong advanced 40 sen to RM13.40, MMC Corp went up eight sen to RM2.17 and IOI Corp moved six sen higher to RM4.36.
SHANGHAI Chinese shares ended flat on Friday, scratching out a 0.03 per cent gain as electricity companies were buoyed by hopes the government would raise power prices soon, dealers said.
But the market was limited by weakness in blue chips on concerns over economic growth after the release of data showing lower-than-expected August industrial output growth, they said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 0.69 points at 2,079.67 on turnover of 22.7 billion yuan (S$4.7 million).
The Shanghai A-share index advanced 0.91 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,183.02 points on turnover of 22.6 billion yuan, while the Shenzhen A-share index rose 3.84 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 606.62 on turnover of 9.4 billion yuan.
HONG KONG Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.2 per cent on Friday, as weakness in China banks has offset earlier gains in property developers and energy firms, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index plunged 35.82 points to 19,352.90. Turnover was 57.77 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$10.61 billion).
China Construction Bank plunged 2.09 per cent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 2.04 per cent, and Bank of China dropped 2.06 per cent.
Sun Hung Kai Properties was up 4.60 per cent after reporting a 30 per cent rise in net profit for the year ending June.
PetroChina surged 1.98 per cent and Sinopec gained 4.34 per cent.
TOKYO Japanese share prices closed up 0.93 per cent on Friday, overcoming early losses on rising hopes that a suitor will rescue ailing US investment bank Lehman Brothers, dealers said.
The market brushed aside news that Japan's economy contracted by the most in nearly seven years last quarter, as the data was not as bad as economists had feared.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 112.26 points to 12,214.76 ahead of a three-day holiday weekend in Japan.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 14.48 points or 1.25 per cent to 1,177.20.-- AFP, BERNAMA
