KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): The FBM KLCI rose 2.48 points or 0.1% after China regulators scrapped its stock market circuit breaker and fixed a stronger midpoint level for yuan transactions.

China's move had resulted in share gains there. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1.97%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.59%.

Reuters reported Asian shares rebounded on Friday, led by strong gains for battered Chinese stocks, after China suspended its market circuit breaker and set a firmer midpoint rate for trading of the yuan for the first time in nine days.
 
In Malaysia, the KLCI ended at 1,657.61 points at 5pm. Yesterday (Jan 7), the index fell 12.84 points, after China's move to devalue the yuan and suspend share trades using the circuit breaker, dragged Asian equities lower.

Today, RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd's executive director Lim Chee Seng told theedgemarkets.com that the firm expecs financial markets to remain volatile this year, as there were still many uncertainties. The list included commodity price slump and slower global economic growth.

"The developing countries are still facing stark challenges this year and this has prompted World Bank to cut global growth forecasts two days ago," Lim said.

Across Bursa Malaysia today, 2.07 billion shares, valued at RM1.93 billion, exchanged hands. The bourse's 529 advancers outpaced the 375 decliners.

The top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, while Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd led decliners.

The most actively-traded counters included Guan Chong Bhd warrants and DPS Resources Bhd.

(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.)