KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI pared gains in the final hour of trading Friday, but remained above the 1,600 psychological level.

       At 5pm, the benchmark index added 3.12 points, or 0.2% to 1,600.43. It has risen to an intraday high of 1,605.02. On a weekly basis, the index was 1.54 points lower.

       There were 566 gainers, 390 losers and 448 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.81 billion shares valued at RM2.06bil.

       Among the FBM KLCI components, Petronas Dagangan, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Petronas Chemicals gained, while Nestle, IHH Healthcare and Digi lagged.

       Petronas Dagangan rose RM1.12 to RM21.74, Hengyuan Refining gained 60 sen to RM5.81 and Transocean added 53 sen to RM2.82.

       Nestle tumbled RM2.50 to RM133.20, Heineken Malaysia shed 40 sen to RM23.70 and Carlsberg fell 24 sen to RM22.14.

       RHB Bank climbed six sen to RM6.25 and Aeon Credit added 30 sen to RM15.90.

       Bank Negara announced earlier that five consortia namely Boost Holdings Bhd-RHB Bank Bhd, GXS Bank Pte Ltd-Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, Sea Ltd-YTL Digital Capital Sdn Bhd, AEON Financial Service Co Ltd-AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd-MoneyLion Inc and KAF Investment Bank Sdn Bhd won the digital bank licences.

       Meanwhile, the US dollar to ringgit fell 0.29% to 4.3512.

       Reuters reported that dollar edged down from its recent 20-year high on Friday but was still on track for its best month since 2015.

       The Japanese stock market is closed for Showa Day holiday.

       South Korea’s Kospi closed up 27.56 points, or 1.03%, at 2,695.05 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng adde 4.01% to 21,089.39.

       China’s CSI300 Index rose 2.4%, to 4,016.24, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.4% to 3,047.06 points.