KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 13): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at the midday break today but still racked up 0.66% in line with the surge at regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 10.94 points to 1,674.21. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,677.91.

Gainers led losers by 335 to 320, while 307 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 921.51 million shares valued at RM707.64 million.

The top gainers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Magni-Tech Industries Bhd, Khind Holdings Bhd and Genting Plantations Bhd.

The actives included Bumi Armada Bhd, My EG Services Bhd, Hubline Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd, Permaju Industries Bhd, Vortex Consolidated Bhd and Techbond Group Bhd.

The decliners included British American Tobaccco (M) Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd, QL Resources Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd and DRB-Hicom Bhd.

Asian equity markets surged on Thursday on signs of easing Sino-US trade tensions and expectations that China will step up efforts soon to support its cooling economy, according to Reuters.

After a quiet start, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up more than 1% by midday, building on early gains made after British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian stocks closed higher yesterday after various news reports pointed to possible easing of US-China trade tensions.

It said on the local front, the FBM KLCI gained 10.64 points or 0.64% to close at 1,663.27.

"We continue to have a bearish-bias outlook on FBM KLCI as it is still capping below the key SMAs (simple moving averages) with MACD (moving average convergence divergence) remains in the negative territory.

"From here support levels to watch out for are 1,650 (S2), where a break below could trigger further sell-down towards the 1,615 (S2).

"Meanwhile, key levels of resistance are identified at 1,700 (R1) and 1,750 (R2)," the research house said.