KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): The FBM KLCI notched up limited gains at mid-morning today, lifted by select blue chips ahead of the extended weekend beginning Thursday.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 5.7 points to 1,634.79 points.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, P.I.E. Industrial Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Supermax Corporation Bhd, Berjaya Land Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included SMTrack Bhd, XOX Bhd, Eden Inc Bhd, Emico Holdings Bhd, The Media Shoppe Bhd, APFT Bhd and Instacom Group Bhd.

The losers included Petronas Gas Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Kawan Food Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and Keck Seng (Malaysia) Bhd.

Asian shares took solace from gains on Wall Street and edged higher on Tuesday, though gains were capped by caution over low share trade volume and plunging Brent crude oil prices ahead of this week's holidays, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched 0.1% higher in early trade, after Wall Street logged solid gains overnight following a losing week, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that technically speaking, after falling 27.4 points in two days, the FBM KLCI's near-term outlook has turned weaker and it is poised for a brief consolidation phase ahead.

"However, we reiterate that investors should accumulate at 1,600–1,622 levels, as further material fall will be well-cushioned by the seasonal year-end window dressing, ValueCap factor, positive optimism from monetary and fiscal policies easing from China and ongoing positive progresses of 1Malaysia Development Bhd saga. Key upside targets are 1,643–1,662," 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.)