KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): The FBM KLCI gained 0.29% at midday break today, as regional markets advanced.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI pared some of its gains and was up 5.27 points to 1,843.17. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,846.67.

Market breadth improved with 330 gainers versus 244 losers, while 582 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.22 billion shares valued at RM858.69 million.

The gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Genting Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd and Pos Malaysia Bhd,.

The actives included QES Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, SKH Consortium Bhd, HB Global Ltd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd. Daya Materials Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum  Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.

The losers included MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd, Hume Industries Bhd, Toyo Ink Group Bhd and Ta Win Holdings Bhd,

Asian shares found relief on Thursday, as fears about a global trade war amid U.S. President Donald Trump's push to introduce protectionist tariffs were tempered by signs that the move could include carve-outs for key partners, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng led the region with rise of 1.2%. In Japan, the Nikkei gained 0.8%, Reuters said.

Affin Hwang IB senior associate director and head of retail research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said while global equity markets remain volatile, recent not-so-bullish news or headlines had been capitalised by the “Bull”, which seems still very much strong, by buying on dips every time market opened gap down.

“This gradual underlying change of sentiments may give investors upward surprises in the near future.

“The market also hints that to shake the market further, bigger bad news or more bearish news than Gary Cohn's resignation, is required.

“For the local market, investors’ sentiments have gradually shifted from strong bull to a weaker bull with escalating downward bias. However, this might change soon, when market participants noticed that there would be more upward surprises than the downward, at least before the GE14. Trade cautiously, buy on dip,” Dr Nazri said.