KUALA LUMPUR (April 16): The FBM KLCI rose 0.19% and crossed the 1,870-point level at midday break, against the backdrop of mixed regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 3.53 points to 1,872.00.

Losers led gainers by 337 to 233, while 532 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.59 billion shares, valued at RM811.51 million.

The gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd.

The actives included Sapura Energy Bhd, UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, SKH Consortium Bhd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and PUC Bhd.

The losers included Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, George Kent (M) Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd and Mega First Corp Bhd.

Asian share markets were mixed and oil prices fell on Monday, as relief U.S.-led strikes on Syria looked unlikely to escalate, tempered by concerns at Russia's potential reaction to new sanctions from Washington, according to Reuters.

With the situation in the Middle East still fluid, moves were modest in both directions. EMini futures for the S&P 500 nudged up 0.38%, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.2%, Reuters said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said regional markets this week will focus more on Geo-Political risks, after US-led coalitions launched more than a hundred missiles onto Syria, whilst Israel’s strike in one of the army bases in Syria killed four Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in concerted attacks over the weekend.

It said any retaliations from Russia or Iran in the near future will almost certainly jitter the stock markets globally.

“Oil and gold prices [are] already edging upward in respond to this risk.

“For stocks in Bursa Malaysia, sentiments remain upbeat, mainly due to GE14 play.

“Oil and Gas stocks likely to be the focus of investors due to geo-political concerns, while other stocks might eventually succumb to the global soft outlook, hence likely to move sideways with downward bias,” the research house said.