KUALA LUMPUR (March 28): Malaysian stocks rebounded today, mirroring movements among regional counterparts, after Wall Street and the US dollar stabilised following US President Donald Trump’s failure to push through a healthcare reform Bill.

The benchmark FBM KLCI index closed 9.47 points or 0.54% higher at 1,754.42 points, with gains led by Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Panasonic Manufacuring Malaysia Bhd.

However, trading volume fell to 3.07 billion shares worth RM2.42 billion compared with Monday’s 3.97 billion shares worth RM2.49 billion. Market breadth was positive, with 513 gainers versus 366 losers.

“The stock market rebounded slightly (today), but there isn’t anything too spectacular happening in Malaysia for now. However, we do expect the ongoing reversal of outflow to continue for at least the next two weeks,” Etiqa Insurance and Takaful research head Chris Eng told theedgemarkets.com.

Eng said economy-wise, although Asean stock markets are still patchy at this point, the situation is set to improve gradually for the region with China expected to take the lead.

Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines could continue underperforming for the remaining of 2017 while the outperformers could very likely be Malaysia and Singapore, he added.

“We are now seeing a rising tide for boats, and the winning boat could very well be China. Malaysia, on the other hand, is also expected to perform well moving forward,” Eng said.

Actively traded stocks today included Scomi Group Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd and Olympia Industries Bhd, while top losers were United Plantations Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Teck Guan Perdana Bhd.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.14%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.63% and South Korea's KOSPI index gained 0.35%.

Reuters reported that Asian stocks were up today following Wall Street’s stabilisation and strengthening of the US dollar. Stock markets, which suffered following Trump’s presidential election win and most recently, his setback on healthcare reform, were given a boost from the US Federal Reserve's decision to hike its benchmark interest rate.

However, the rally came to a halt on doubts over Trump's ability to keep his promises of fiscal stimulus, including tax reform.