KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): The FBM KLCI climbed 0.82 point on bargain hunting ahead of Malaysia's Budget 2018 announcement this Friday (Oct 27). Today, Malaysian shares rose as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory cheered global markets.

At 5pm today, the KLCI settled at 1,741.47 points. The index pared gains after reaching its intraday high at 1,744.86 points. Last Friday (Oct 20), the KLCI fell 3.34 points to close at 1,740.65 points.

Today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong told theedgemarkets.com: “After several declines last week, the local market is likely to see some bargain hunting activities this week, but the upside may not be significant."

Leong said the KLCI's rise was "most likely because of the feel good factor towards the upcoming Budget 2018 (as) it is the last federal budget before the next general election.”

Across Bursa Malaysia, trading volume was 2.73 billion shares worth RM1.95 billion. There were 402 gainers versus 405 decliners.

Malaysian shares rose with Japan equities afer Abe's election victory. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.11% to close at 21,696.65 points, the index's highest in 21 years.

Reuters reported that Abe's convincing election victory lifted the Nikkei to its highest in 21 years and world stocks to an all-time high on Monday, despite an escalation of Spain's constitutional crisis that weighed on the country's banks.