KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): The FBM KLCI bounced at the midday break today and defended its stance above the the 1,710-point level.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 1.12 points to 1,710.98.

Gainers outpaced losers by 374 to 362, while 284 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.46 billion shares valued at RM1.13 billion.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Only World Group Holdings Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Holdings Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd and Felda Global Venture Holdings Bhd (FGV).

The actively traded stocks included Frontken Corporation Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, XOX Bhd, Iris Corporation Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd, Nova MSC Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, FGV and Bumi Armada Bhd.

The top losers included Aeon Credit Services (M) Bhd, United Malacca Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Guinness Anchor Bhd, Oriental Interest Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Tasco Bhd and Scientex Bhd.

Asian shares stepped back from two-month highs on Tuesday and commodity currencies retreated as a big fall in oil prices triggered profit taking, though fading expectations of an imminent US rate hike lent some support, according to Reuters.

Trade data from China was mixed, with exports beating forecast and imports below expectations doing little to dispel concerns over a slowdown in China. Yet rising hopes of more stimuli from China underpinned markets, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said that on earlier trading, key regional markets ended mostly positive yesterday after China's Central Bank announced fresh stimulus to boost the economy, and expectations build that more could be on the way.

Locally, it said the FBM KLCI gained 3.32 points or 0.19% to end at 1,709.86, lifted mainly by banking and telco stocks.

"Trading participation saw net buying by foreign institutions while local institutions and retail were net sellers.

"We reckon the local market to remain positive today with the returning of foreign investors and expect the index to hover around 1,715–1,720," it said.

(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.)