AirAsia jumps while KLCI treks higher on Petronas stocks

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia jumped in active trade early Thursday after declaring the special dividend of 90 sen a share, providing some support for the overall market despite the weaker key Asian bourses.

At 9.31am, the KLCI was up 2.57 points or 0.16% to 1,626,24, underpinned by gains in Petronas Dagangan and Petronas Gas. Turnover was 255.29 million shares valued at RM196.52mil. There were 192 gainers, 186 losers and 200 counters unchanged.

The dollar held steady against its key rivals as escalating US-China trade tensions forced investors to take shelter in safe-haven assets, including government bonds.

Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar inched 0.03% lower to 98.113, hovering within reach of a two-year high of 98.371 reached a week ago. The index is up more than 2% for the year, Reuters reported.

Asian stocks tracked Wall Street losses as the continued rhetoric kept alive investor concerns about the tariff war’s impact on global economic growth.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.5% and Australian stocks shed 0.66%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stood little changed after slipping to a four-month low the previous day.

Kenanga Research said despite the KLCI’s firmer close on Wednesday, the overall downtrend remains intact and its technical indicators have yet to show any prominent sign of a bullish breakout.

“From here, supports can be found at 1,585 (S1) and 1,570 (S2). Should the momentum continue to be positive and be able to break above 1,630 (R1), outlook would then turn bullish with next resistance identified at 1,650 (R2),” it said.

AirAsia surged 26 sen to RM2.89 with 33.42 million shares done.

Affin Hwang Capital Research has upgraded AirAsia Group to Buy with a target price of RM3.35 from RM2.86 for the generous dividend, solid operating performance and the bright prospects of its digital business.

Petronas Dagangan rose 90 sen to RM25.70 and Petronas Gas 22 sen to RM17.04.

PPB Group gained 56 sen to RM19.18 and KL Kepong 22 sen to RM24.42 but Sime Plantation lost 10 sen to RM4.52.

Carlsberg added 44 sen to RM24.30 and Nestle 40 sen to RM147.90. However, BAT fell 80 sen to RM30.20. MSM was down 11 sen to RM1.36 and Heineken 10 sen lower at RM23.26.

MISC was up 25 sen to RM7.06, Time dotCom 17 sen to RM8.95 and CanOne 16 sen to RM3.25.

Source: TheStar