KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): The FBM KLCI posted a minor gain after being lifted by rubber glove stocks Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd. 

At market close, the benchmark index was up 3.53 points or 0.24% at 1,500.33. 
 
Top Glove Corp finished 3.92% or 33 sen higher at RM8.76, valuing the company at RM71.7 billion, while Hartalega was up 7.63% or RM1.24 at RM17.50, giving a market capitalisation of RM59.98 billion. 

The broader market was however lower, with 647 counters posting declines against 330 gainers, while 458 counters closed unchanged. 

Rakuten Trade Research vice president Vincent Lau said the overall performance of the market was one defined by caution, except for healthcare stocks which continued to attract interest amid rising Covid-19 cases worldwide. 

“Investors are currently cautious at the moment. It is the confluence of the loan moratorium ending, fears over another lockdown and Trump’s positive Covid-19 diagnosis on futures that are weighing on investor sentiment,” Lau said. 
 
Trading volume across the bourse stood at 5.48 billion shares, worth RM4.09 billion. 

Elsewhere in Asia, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% or 6.31 points to 3,218.05, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.79% or 183.52 points to 23,459.05, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.67% or 155.22 points at 23,029.90, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index 0.33% or 8.16 points lower at 2,492.58. South Korea’s Kospi managed to rise 0.86% or 19.81 points to 2,327.89. 

According to Reuters, global stock markets sneezed today, after US President Donald Trump, alongside his wife Melania Trump, had tested positive for the virus. 
 
“Early losses in Singapore and Indonesian stock markets deepened after the news of Trump's positive test, as stock markets globally took a hit from the additional uncertainty it generated around November's vote,” it reported.