KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips rose in early Thursday trade as risk appetite perked up with Petronas Dagangan, KL Kepong and HLFG underpinning the FBM KLCI’s advance.

       At 9.14am, the FBM KLCI was up 3.3 points or 0.22% to 1,519.82. Turnover was 560.02 million shares valued at RM253.68mil. The broader market was firmer with two advancers to one decliner or 296 gainers to 143 losers and 285 counters unchanged.

       Bloomberg reported Asian stocks climbed early Thursday after solid company earnings boosted Wall Street, easing concerns about peak economic growth and coronavirus flareups. The dollar held a decline.

       Shares rose in Australia and South Korea, while Japan is shut for a holiday. U.S. futures edged up after the S&P 500’s biggest back-to-back advance in two months, led by cyclical stocks like energy and financials.

       At Bursa, Vitrox rose 76 sen to RM17.52, MPI 66 sen to RM41.86, Greatec 13 sen to RM6.13. Genetec lost eight sen RM17.52 and Widetec shed six sen to RM3.46.

       BLD Plantations rose 30 sen to RM9.30, KL Kepong 22 sen to RM19.70 and Batu Kawan 14 sen to RM19.50.

       Rising crude oil prices saw Petronas Dagangan add 24 sen to RM18.79 while HLFG gained 20 sen to RM17.78.

       CWG Holdings jumped 19.5 sen to 66.5 sen in active trade while Pineapple climbed 15 sen to RM1.27.

       Glove stocks gave up some of the previous day’s gains, Harta fell 11 sen to RM7.78, Supermax four sen to RM3.65 and Kossan three sen to RM3.46.