KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 7): The FBM KLCI jumped 0.93% at mid-morning today, tracking the firm start to the week at most regional markets.
At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 15.63 points to 1,685.41.
Gainers led losers by 446 to 118, while 231 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 751.34 million shares valued at RM323.59 million.
The gainers included KESM Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and PPB Group Bhd.
The actives included newly-listed DPI Holdings Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Econpile Holdings Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.
The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd and Malaysia-listed Hang Seng Index-linked put warrants.
Asian shares got off to a rousing start on Monday as a dovish turn by the Federal Reserve (Fed) and startlingly strong US jobs data soothed some of the market's worst fears about the global outlook, according to Reuters.
Investors are keen to see how Chinese markets react to the central bank's policy easing announced late on Friday, which frees up around US$116 billion (RM447 billion) for new lending, it said.
Hong Leong IB Research said in the US, it expects the current feel-good sentiment to persist for the near term as the economic data is improving, while the Fed's tone is supporting market participation's expectations.
"However, should there be any negative surprises surfacing from the US-China trade discussions (Jan 7-8), (they) may affect markets' sentiment.
"We expect the positive sentiment on Wall Street to extend regionally in Asia, eventually boosting stocks on the local front.
"Sectors that we may anticipate a rebound will be oil and gas (on the back of firmer recovery in Brent crude oil price) and technology stocks as the latter were bashed down last week on Apple's softer outlook guidance.
"Meanwhile, the FBM KLCI could trend within the range of 1,665-1,695," it said.