KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 4): The FBM KLCI rose 2.17 points or 0.1% on buying interest since yesterday after the index posted losses for the 10th consecutive day on Monday (Oct 2).
 
Today, investors could have continued bargain hunting for Malaysian shares which had in recent days fallen on US interest rate hike and tax cut cues.

At 5pm today, the KLCI ended at 1,761.84 points after rising 4.89 points yesterday.

Today, Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew  told theedgemarkets.com : “There is an interest in the market after so many days of declining. The index started the recovery yesterday and continues its rally today.

"There was more retail buying interest compared with institutional."

Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion changed hands. There were 425 gainers versus 378 decliners.

Top gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, which rose 16 sen to RM60.12 to become Bursa Malaysia's third-largest gainer.
 
“Interestingly some consumer stocks are making a comeback and they are moving up. The finance counters are also pushing the index up,” Pong said.

Malaysian shares rose with Asian equities. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.06% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.73%.

Reuters reported that Japanese and Hong Kong shares led Asian stocks higher on Wednesday, supported by optimism about global growth and as the Chinese central bank's weekend move to free up liquidity boosted mainland financial stocks.

Japan's Nikkei climbed to a more than two-year peak while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose to a level not seen since May 2015. The Philippines Stock Exchange added 0.7 percent to a record high. Across Asia this week, trade has been generally subdued and volumes thin with China and South Korea closed for week-long holidays, while analysts cautioned against reading too much into index moves.