KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed higher on Friday, aided by gains in plantations and banking stocks.

       At 5pm, the benchmark index rose 9.75 points to 1,543.11. For the week, the index fell 24.42 points.

       Gainers outnumbered losers by 600 to 338, while 399 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was brisk at 4.14 billion shares valued at RM1.9bil.

       Dealers said the rise in Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index was mainly lifted by banking and plantation counters. They added that trading activities on glove stocks due to Omicron fears also helped lift the index.

       According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors sold RM121mil worth of local equities. Local institutions and retailers acquired RM83mil and RM38mil of local equities respectively.

       Among the KLCI component stocks, Hong Leong Financial Group added 28 sen to RM17.62, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 26 sen to RM21.96, Sime Plantation advanced 15 sen to RM3.94 and IOI Corp gained 13 sen to RM3.88.

       Hartalega added 11 sen to RM5.85, Top Glove rose three sen to RM2.47 and IHH fell two sen to RM6.74.

       On the broader market, Sam Engineering jumped RM1.20 to RM24.90, Aurelius rose 22 sen to RM2.81 and Grand Hoover added 17 sen to RM1.10.

       The decliners included Nestle, MPI, Riverview and Heineken.

       On the external front, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific ex-Japan climbed 0.7%.

       Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.03% lower at 28,478.56 while South Korea’s Kospi rose 34.36 points, or 1.18%, to 2,954.89.

       Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.8%, to 23,493.38 points.

       China’s CSI300 closed up 0.08% to 4,822.37 while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.18% to 3,579.54.