KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index rebounded from earlier losses to close at its intraday high on Wednesday, gaining 0.27 per cent in late trading as buying interest returned to selected heavyweights. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 4.48 points to 1,676.83 from Tuesday’s close of 1,672.35. The benchmark index opened 0.88 of-a-point lower at 1,671.47 and subsequently hit a low of 1,665.94 during the mid-morning session before gaining momentum toward closing. On the broader market, losers led gainers by 565 to 512, while some 526 counters were unchanged, 1,046 untraded, and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.76 billion versus Tuesday’s 2.66 billion units worth RM2.76 billion. Dealers said that investors were cautious following geopolitical developments in Asia.
Oil jumped by nearly 4% as OPEC meets; discuss ways to support prices
Oil jumped nearly 4 percent on Monday as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support prices, with nervous trade driving volatility to its highest since a similar meeting to freeze output in April in Doha which failed.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other exporters led by No. 1 producer Russia are meeting informally on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algeria from Sept. 26-28 to discuss steps to tackle a price-eroding glut of crude.
Key OPEC member Iran, the fourth largest crude exporter which is still trying to recapture output before Western sanctions in 2012, downplayed the chances of a deal while some OPEC members remained hopeful.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up $1.75, or 3.8 percent, at $47.64 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT)
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose $1.65, or 3.7 percent, to $46.13.
Implied volatility, a gauge of how much oil prices move, was at its highest since April 18, when the meeting in Doha among OPEC members to discuss an output freeze ended in an impasse, leaving crude at just above $40.
Scepticism about any deal being reached prompted money managers to cut their bullish bets on U.S. crude futures to a one-month low last week, when prices fell by nearly 5 percent. [CFTC/]
Some analysts believe implementation of a freeze will only be after OPEC's all-important policy meeting in Vienna in November. Until then, the group and non-members, including Russia and No. 1 oil consumer the United States, are likely to ramp up output.
"While we look for both Russia and the OPEC membership to continue to talk up the market via bullish hype whenever crude prices decline by a few dollars a barrel, we are maintaining a view that this type of artificial price support is simply delaying the inevitable by allowing non-OPEC production, especially from U.S. shale producers, to recover further," said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago-based oil markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.
OPEC pumped near a multi-year high of 33.24 million barrels per day in August, data showed. Russian production hit record highs of 11.75 million bpd last week. U.S. output has fallen this year but its oil rig count, which signals future production, has risen for 12 of the past 13 weeks.
Unplanned outages across OPEC still amount to around 2 million bpd, making it hard for members to agree to a freeze, SEB commodities strategist Bjarne Schieldrop said.
"They will come away with nothing, because it is too difficult. How can they decide a freeze when Libya is on the doorstep of returning production, or Nigeria for that matter?" Schieldrop said.
Source: Reuters
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