KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The FBM KLCI rose as Asian shares tracked overnight US equity gains ahead of the planned China-US trade talks this month. Such sentiment led to easing trade war jitters. 

At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI opened 3.4 points higher at 1,780.67 at 9am. At 9:06am, the index climbed 3.84 points to 1,781.11.

"Tracking the overnight Wall Street optimism over the upcoming trade talks, we see buying interest to spill over into Malaysia’s equities. Also, we believe the trading interest may stay within export-oriented stocks on the back of stronger USD vs ringgit," Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd wrote in a note today.

Reuters reported that Asian shares won a modest reprieve on Friday after China and the US agreed to hold their first trade talks since June next week and as the Turkish lira extended gains from its record low earlier this week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2% in early trade, a day after it hit its lowest level in a year.

Overnight in the US, Reuters reported that US stocks rebounded on Thursday with the Dow posting its biggest percentage gain in over four months, as positive earnings and waning trade jitters buoyed investor confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 396.32 points, or 1.58%, to 25,558.73, the S&P 500 gained 22.32 points, or 0.79%, to 2,840.69 and the Nasdaq Composite added 32.41 points, or 0.42%, to 7,806.52.