Energy stocks take centrestage as FBM KLCI bucks downward trend

KUALA LUMPUR: A surprise reversal in the performance of blue chips on Bursa Malaysia suggested foreign funds were seeking out local equities even as global markets were wracked by nerves over the US's entry into the Isreal-Iran conflict.
While other regional equity benchmarks wallowed in the red, Malaysia's FBM KLCI made an unexpected bounce to erase a 14-point deficit and tack on a 6.61-point gain to 1,509.35.
Nestle was seen leading the blue chips higher, surging RM3.18 to RM75.70.
PETRONAS and energy-related stocks performed especially well following crude oil's weekend rally. MISC gained 13 sen to RM7.69, Tenaga Nasional rose 12 sen to RM14.34 and PETRONAS Chemicals climbed seven sen to RM3.11.
The lower liners on the domestic market, however, remained subdued with the declining issues outweighing the advancers 4.17-to-1. Market volume remained on pace with that of previous days, with 2.04 billion share changed for RM960.69mil.
Among the top performers, Petron Malaysia rose 13 sen to RM3.86, Hibiscus Peroleum jumped 13 sen to RM1.84 and Hengyuan Refining added nine sen to RM1.94.
Regionally, stock markets were a sea of red, in line with US futures as the threat of growing warfare in the Middle East sapped investor appetite for equities.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.2% to 38,331, South Korea's Kospi slid 0.51% to 3,006 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.13% to 23,498.
On the Chinese mainland, the CSI300 fell 0.2% to 3,838, although the composite index showed some mild resilience, rising 0.15% to 3,365.
With the exception of the Malaysian index, all other Asean markets were in negative territory. The Philippine and Indonesian markets led with 2.06% and 1.77% declines respectively.

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