KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): The FBM KLCI rose 0.43% at the midday break today, eyeing the 1,670-point threshold level.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI gained 7.16 points at 1,669.67.

Gainers led losers by 448 to 261, while 278 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.21 billion shares valued at RM1.19 billion.

The top gainers included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Uzma Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, KESM Industrial Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Deleum Bhd, UMW Oil & Gas Corporation Bhd and Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd.

The actives included AirAsia Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Perisai Teknologi Petroleum Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, TH Heavy Engineering Bhd, XOX Bhd and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, Genting Bhd, Malaysia Pacific Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd and Lafarge Malaysia Bhd.

Asian stocks held firm on Wednesday as oil prices showed some signs of life, supporting battered resource shares and emerging economy currencies, while Japanese markets were tentative ahead of a crucial Bank of Japan policy meeting, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.7%, hitting its highest level in nearly three weeks and extending gains to 7.5% from three-year lows set on Sept 29, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said that in Asia, key indexes ended mostly higher following the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement deal.

The research house said that locally, the FBM KLCI gained 14.92 points to end at 1,662.51 with strong gains in banking and telco stocks.

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

"We expect the local market to remain positive today due to improved global sentiment with immediate resistance at 1,670," 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.)