KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): The FBM KLCI gained 0.67% at mid-morning to cross the 1,680-point level, lifted by blue chips including Petronas-linked stocks.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 11.28 points to 1,682.01 points.

The top gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Selangor Properties Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, My E.G. Services Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Hubline Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Emic Holdings Bhd and Genetec Technology Bhd.

The decliners included Globetronics Technology Bhd, Kim Loong Resources Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd, Ibraco Bhd, V.S. Industry Bhd, TAHPS Group Bhd and Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks were subdued on Tuesday, with Japanese and South Korean equities slipping, after crude oil prices resumed their slide and cooled investor sentiment, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were effectively unchanged, and looked set for a loss of around 12% for the year, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said trading momentum could slow in a holiday-shortened week (Bursa Malaysia will be closed on Jan 1) and renewed weakness in oil prices but overall sentiment would remain firm, spurred by positive technical indicators, seasonal year-end window dressing rebound, ValueCap factor, positive optimism of monetary and fiscal policies easing from China and ongoing progresses of 1Malaysia Development Bhd saga.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)