KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd's share price rose as much as 18 sen or 2.02% to a more than two-year high of RM9.08 on Wednesday (Jan 12), amid higher crude oil prices and after the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) upped its stake in the company.

The last time the price reached RM9.08 was on April 3, 2019.

The counter closed  on Wednesday at RM9, giving it a market capitalisation of RM72 billion.

Petronas Chemicals' share price could have taken a cue from the significant overnight Tuesday rise in crude oil prices before the commodity's price extended gains in Wednesday morning trade.

Higher crude oil prices translate into higher prices for Petronas Chemicals' products, hence anticipation of higher revenue for the company.

Overnight on Tuesday, it was reported that crude oil price soared nearly 4%, supported by tight supply and expectations that rising coronavirus cases and the spread of the Omicron variant will not derail a global demand recovery.

Brent crude gained US$2.85 or 3.5% to US$83.72 a barrel, its highest settlement since early November. "The global benchmark (Brent) dropped 1% on Monday," Reuters reported.

It was reported that US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose US$2.99 or 3.8% to end at US$81.22, also its highest price since mid-November.

"Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, extending big gains in the previous session after the US Federal Reserve chief signalled the central bank may raise rates more slowly than expected, which should support oil demand in the near term.

"Benchmarks Brent and WTI are trading at their highest levels since the super contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus emerged in late November, as it has not hit fuel demand the way previous variants did.

"WTI crude futures rose 38 cents or 0.5% to US$81.60 a barrel at 0224 GMT, adding to a 3.8% jump in the previous session. Brent crude futures gained 22 cents, or 0.3% to US$83.94 a barrel, after jumping 3.5% in the previous session," Reuters reported.

Petronas Chemicals' Bursa filing on Tuesday (Jan 11) that the EPF had increased its Petronas Chemicals stake to 6.806% as of last Thursday (Jan 6) could have also improved sentiment on Petronas Chemicals' shares.

According to the Tuesday filing, the EPF had made a net purchase of about 580,000 Petronas Chemicals shares on Jan 6, after buying around 1.43 million shares and selling about 850,000 shares then.

The net purchase had raised the EPF's stake in Petronas Chemicals to 6.806% on Jan 6, from 6.798% on Jan 5, according to Petronas Chemicals' filings.