KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): The FBM KLCI rose 8.65 points or 0.5% to close at its intraday high today after US equities climbed to record highs overnight on Monday.

Crude oil's overnight rise also supported Malaysian shares today. At 5pm today, the KLCI settled at 1,750.94 points on gains in blue-chip stocks including Petronas Gas Bhd, Genting Bhd and Genting Malaysia Bhd.

"Oil prices continue to be front and centre for traders in a relatively quiet market. Brent crude surged 3.5% to trade above US$64 on Monday, after the arrests in Saudi Arabia raised investors’ concerns over the stability of the Middle East region," FXTM chief market strategist Hussein Sayed wrote in a note today.

Across Bursa Malaysia, 3.02 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion were traded. There were 357 gainers and 456 decliners.

Petronas Gas shares added 54 sen to RM17.64, Genting Bhd rose 48 sen to RM9.35 while Genting Malaysia Bhd was 25 sen higher at RM5.30.

Petronas Gas was Bursa Malaysia's top gainer while Genting Bhd and Genting Malaysia were the second and fourth-largest gainers respectively.

Malaysian shares rose with Asian stocks after US equities' overnight rise. Reuters reported today that MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended early gains, rising 0.7 percent to its loftiest peak since November 2007. The index got a bump higher after all three major US equity indexes closed at record highs overnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.04 percent to end at 23,548.42, while the S&P 500 gained 0.13 percent to 2,591.13. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.33 percent to 6,786.44.