KUALA LUMPUR (March 2): The FBM KLCI rose 20.21 points or 1.2% to settle at intraday high, as Asian shares gained substantially on stronger crude oil prices.

As 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,691.03 points. Across Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 4.11%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 3.07%, while South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.6%.

Reuters reported Asian shares rallied to two-month highs on Wednesday, as overnight gains in oil prices and a batch of positive economic data from Australia to the United States calmed fears of a global economic slowdown.

Brent was little changed on Wednesday, following strong gains in Asian stocks, while U.S. oil eased on industry data that showed a huge build in U.S. crude stockpiles that were already at a record high.

Brent crude for May delivery was down 7 cents at US$36.74 a barrel at 0755 GMT. It was close to Tuesday's near-two-month high of US$37.25, which was up 37.5% from a 12-year low hit in late January.

In Malaysia today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd technical analyst Loui Low Ley Yee told theedgemarkets.com that the KLCI had seen a technical rebound.

Low said crude oil price gains "has helped a lot" in the KLCI's technical rebound.

“It (KLCI) is going through a technical rebound. We can see that most of the index-linked stocks, be it oil and gas or telcos (telecommunication companies) were mostly up," he said.

Across Bursa Malaysia, there were 478 gainers versus 375 decliners, while 343 counters remained unchanged.

Trading volume was 1.66 billion shares, worth RM2.28 billion.

British American Tobacco (M) Bhd led gainers, while AirAsia Bhd was the most actively-traded counter. Hang Seng-linked put warrants dominated Bursa top decliners.

Index-linked put warrants have an inverse correlation with the underlying index. As such, these warrants are seen as a hedge against broader market volatility.