29/10/2014 (The Star) - Plantations and banks rallied in late morning trade on Wednesday, pushing the FBM KLCI up more than 13 points.

At 11.30am, the KLCI was up 13.3 points to 1,838.98. Turnover was 947.26 million shares valued at RM675.05mil. There were 470 gainers, 169 losers and 250 counters unchanged.

CIMB Equities Research is positive on Malaysia's plans to start implementing the use of B7 biodiesel in stages starting from November as this will boost the country's usage of palm oil.

The research house estimates the rollout could raise the country's palm oil demand by 263,000 to 390,000 tonnes per annum, or 1%-2% of the total palm oil production in 2013.

Plantations were among the top gainers, with KL Kepong up 42 sen to RM22.88, Batu Kawan 32 sen to RM18.32 and PPB Group 28 sen to RM15.04.

Among the finance and banks, HLFG rose the most, up 32 sen to RM17.96, Hong Leong Bank added 20 sen to RM14.28 while CIMB gained 16 sen to RM6.36.

Among the big caps, Genting Bhd added 17 sen to RM9.55 and Petronas Gas 16 sen to RM22.04.