KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia pared some of its gains at close on Friday but remained up 0.36%, tracking regional markets.

       At 5pm, the 30-stock FBM KLCI index was up 5.61 points, or 0.36% to 1,544.41. The benchmark index had earlier risen to its intra-day high of 1,551.33. On a weekly basis, the index fell 1.27%, or 19.93 points.

       Market breadth was positive with 658 gainers as compared to 318 losers while 402 counters were unchanged. About 3.16 billion shares, valued at RM2.5bil, changed hands.

       Movers in the KLCI component stocks included Petronas Dagangan, which gained 90 sen to RM21.50, Press Metal rose 24 sen to RM5.04 and Sime Darby Plantation advanced 22 sen to RM5.12.

       Laggards among the KLCI component stocks include RHB Bank, Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB Bank. RHB and Maybank fell 11 sen each to RM6.04 and RM8.96 respectively. Public bank closed down 10 sen to RM4.53 and CIMB fell one sen to RM5.04.

       Nestle, the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, fell 50 sen to RM131.50. Westports Holdings lost 20 sen to RM3.89, Malaysia Airports Holdings eased 19 sen to RM6.33 and Alliance Bank Malaysia fell 15 sen to RM3.60.

       Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average closed up 2.64%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.68%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 2.12% and China’s CSI300 index added 0.75%.