KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): The FBM KLCI got off to a muted start this morning as sentiment at the local market remained tepid.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.15 points to 1,792.61.

The gainers included Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Apex Healthcare Bhd, UEM Edgenta Bhd, Uzma Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, Wah Seong Corp Bhd, Genting Bhd, Tong Herr Resources Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.

Asian stocks were steady on Tuesday as Japanese equities rose to a fresh 27-year high while crude oil prices were elevated in the afterglow of an agreement that salvaged a North American free trade deal, according to Reuters.

The United States and Canada forged a last-minute deal on Sunday to salvage NAFTA as a trilateral pact with Mexico, rescuing a three-country, $1.2 trillion open-trade zone that had been about to collapse after nearly a quarter century, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said the sentiment has turned fairly bullish following the replacement of NAFTA agreement, buying support should return and most of the major indexes should trend positively over the near term.

“Energy shares are likely to be focused as well with the Brent oil prices hovering steadily above US$80.

“With the solid overnight performance on Wall Street coupled with the positive agreement between US and Canada, we anticipate some spill over of buying interest towards stocks on the local front.

“Also, we extend our optimism on the trading activities amongst oil and gas stocks due to the firm Brent oil prices,” it said.