26/07/2016 (The Star) - Shares of PPB Group, IHH Healthcare and Malaysia Airports (MAHB) staged a mild rebound on Monday after a volatile week where they came under selling pressure due to negative newsflow while FGV climbed as investors turned more upbeat.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI was up 2.89 points or 0.17% to 1,660.31. Turnover was 790.48 million shares valued at RM517.96mil. There were 317 gainers, 317 losers and 330 counters unchanged.

The ringgit continued to weaken and fell 0.51% against the US dollar to 4.0815 from 4.0608; weakened against the pound sterling to 5.3570 from 5.3477 and was 2.9978 against the Singapore dollar from 2.9927. It slipped against the Euro to 4.4786 from 4.4748.

Key Asian markets pared their early gains. Nintendo Co. was the biggest drag on the regional gauge, sinking 17% after saying the impact of its hit Pokemon Go app on earnings will be limited, Bloomberg reported.
New Zealand's and/NZX 50 Index added 1% to an all- time high, after climbing 2.2% last week. The Kospi index in Seoul slipped 0.1% while stocks in Hong Kong also declined. The Asian stock measure traded at 13.4 times estimated earnings over the next 12 months, near the highest multiple since August, it said.

At Bursa Malaysia, FGV was in focus as investors turned more upbeat on the plantations giant. It rose nine sen to RM1.87, the highest since November last year. A news report it had abandoned plans to buy Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk also boosted the share price.

PPB Group rose 18 sen to RM16.02 after the recent battering when its associate Wilmar issued a profit warning.

Crude palm oil for third-month delivery lost RM14 to RM,2306 per tonne. IOI Corp fell five sen to RM4.24, KL Kepong was flat at RM23.10 and Sime Darby gained two sen to RM7.67.

IHH Healthcare rose nine sen to RM6.57 and pushed the KLCI up  1.22 points while MAHB gained  five sen to RM5.86 after last week's battering following their exposure to Turkey where they have operations.

Heineken was the top gainer, up 22 sen to RM18 while poultry company Lay Hong gained eight sen to RM8.90.

Oil prices held near two-month lows on Monday amid worries that a global crude and refined product glut would weigh on markets for some time to come, Reuters reported. US light crude oil and Brent fell nine cents each to US$44.10 and US$45.60.

Petronas Gas rose 14 sen to RM22.16, Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM23.46 while Petronas Dagangan was flat at RM23.46. SK Petro rose one sen to RM1.42. TH Heavy added 2.5 sen to 14 sen on expectations of securing more contracts.

Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank rose 10 sen to RM13.20, Public Bank eight sen to RM19.38, Maybank two sen to RM8.05 and AmBank one sen to RM4.28 but CIMB shed one sen to RM4.19.

Ajiya fell the most, down 33 sen to RM3.80 after its disappointing financial results.

Insurers LPI and Allianz lost eight sen each to RM15.90 and RM9.92.

Among the key regional markets,

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.15% to 16,651.59;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.29% to 21,900.67;

CSI 300 rose 0.35% to 3,236.45;

Shanghai’s Composite Index edged up 0.24% to 3,019.94;

Shenzhen Composite added 0.27% to 2,025.04;

Hang Seng China Enterprise fell 0.62% to 8,975.50;

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.84% to 8,937;

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.08% to 2,008.80 and

Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.26% to 2,937.69.

Spot gold fell US$5.28 to US$1,317.45.