KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): The FBM KLCI opened higher this morning in line with most regional markets, after the U.S.- China trade war was put “on hold”.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI rose 2.22 points to 1,856.72.

The early gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Suria Capital Holdings Bhd and Bermaz Auto Bhd.

U.S. stock futures jumped on Monday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. trade war with China is "on hold" after the world's two largest economic powers agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, according to Reuters.

S&P mini futures rose 0.6 percent in early Asian trade on Monday while U.S. 10-year Treasuries futures price fell 4.5/32, or 0.12 percent, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview said US markets ended mixed on Friday following concerns on US-China trade negotiations.

It said that earlier, European stocks tumbled following losses in telecommunication counters as ratings of Altice and Telecom Italia were downgraded.

“On the local market, the FBM KLCI was flat with 0.06 points higher at 1854.50 points after erasing intraday gains from 1862.19 points.

“Following the mixed performance in the US and Europe, the FBM KLCI is expected to remain sideways below the resistance of 1880 points as investors calm down after volatile trading post-election,” it said.