KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): The FBM KLCI today closed 7.79 points or 0.5% higher, due to positive sentiment surrounding the US-China trade talks.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at a four-week high of 1,577.79 points after the extended weekend, in conjunction with the Deepavali celebration on Sunday. 

Reuters reported Asian shares crept to a three-month peak on Tuesday, after Wall Street hit all-time highs amid hopes of progress in Sino-US trade talks and for another dose of policy stimulus from the US Federal Reserve this week.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he expects to sign a significant part of a trade deal with China ahead of schedule, but did not elaborate on the timing, the newswire said.

The US trade representative also said the US is studying whether to extend tariff suspensions on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods set to expire on Dec 28 this year, Reuters added.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com that the FBM KLCI has resumed trading today on an upbeat manner, taking cue from the positive developments of the trade progress between US and China, adding that gains were also in line with the mostly positive sentiment across regional peers.

“Moving forward, I believe the market direction will be dictated by the upcoming corporate earnings release,” Leong said.

Among the 30 component stocks, 24 were in the green, led by RHB Bank Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd.

RHB Bank was up 16 sen or 2.86% at RM5.75, bringing its market capitalisation to RM23.06 billion, while Genting Malaysia grew eight sen or 2.58% to close at RM3.18 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM18.88 billion. Sime Darby Plantation closed 11 sen or 2.29% higher at RM4.91, valuing the company at RM33.8 billion.

On the broader market, he noted plantation stocks as the outperformer, as prices of crude palm oil passed the RM2,400 psychological level today.

Bursa Malaysia saw 2.3 billion shares worth RM1.91 billion traded. Gainers led losers by 408 to 393, while 416 counters remained unchanged.

Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 grew 0.47%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.04%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.39%.