KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 26): The FBM KLCI rose 0.18% in early trade this morning, against the bacdrop of muted regional markets, lifted by gains including at Public Bank and Malayan Banking Bhd.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI rose 2.89 points to 1,607.12.

The early gainers included Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre, MISC Bhd, UWC Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd, Cypark Resources Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd.

Bloomberg reported that Asian stocks looked set for another quiet year-end session on Thursday, sitting on an advance of almost 9% for the quarter thanks to ebbing concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and expectations of a global economic pickup in 2020.

Futures were little changed in Japan and South Korea after many major financial markets were shut for the Christmas holiday. Treasuries will restart trading Thursday after the break. West Texas Intermediate crude will restart trading above $61 a barrel amid the outlook for solid global growth in 2020. China’s yuan is around 7 per dollar, while the Japanese yen remains stuck between 109 and 110, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian stocks ended mixed on Christmas Eve as trading activity remained subdued ahead of the year-end holidays.

It said back home, the FBMKLCI declined by 9.95 points or 0.62% to close at 1,604.23.

“Chart-wise, the index continued to trend higher after closing above all the key SMAs few days ago.

“Coupled with a bullish signal from MACD, we believe the index could move higher.

“From here, expect the index to test resistance levels at 1,630 (R1) and 1,650 (R2). Meanwhile, support levels to watch out for are 1,550 (S1) and 1,540 (S2),” it said.