KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): The FBM KLCI gained 0.19% in line with the slight advance at regional markets at the midday break today.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI added 3.09 points to 1,625.15.

Losers outpaced gainers by 349 to 210, while 518 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 2.15 billion shares valued at RM1.26 billion.

The gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, DWL Resources Bhd, Daibochi Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Enra Group Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and G3 Global Bhd.

The actives included Ekovest Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity), Gadang Holdings Bhd, Velesto Energy Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, PLS Plantations Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, IWCity and Ekovest.

Stocks in Asia rose marginally on Tuesday as many markets reopened after the long Easter break, while oil jumped to its highest this year as the United States tightened sanctions on Iran, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei was little changed, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index gained as much as 8 points, hitting a high of 1,630.91 before paring gains in the second half of yesterday's session. In the end, the index closed flat at 1,622.06, losing only 0.01 points.

"Prices retraced up slightly towards 1,630 which is a support area previously, now likely to be a resistance level.

"Price action yesterday has formed a 'bearish' pin bar (candlestick pattern) around 1,630, suggesting that we may see sellers once again pushing prices lower from current levels.

"However, note that daily technical indicators, namely RSI (relative strength index) & Stochastic continue to show signs of a 'bullish divergence' formation," it said.