KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): The FBM KLCI opened 0.95% higher today, lifted by blue chips on bargain hunting activities.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI jumped 15.08 points to 1,594.68.

The top gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Pertronas Dagangan Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, KLCC Property Holdings Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.

Asian shares on Wednesday struggled to move away from two-year lows the previous day after big falls in Chinese shares raised fresh fear about the stability of China's economy, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.2%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.4%, recovering from a two-year low hit on Tuesday, though it was still down almost 6% this month, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a market preview today said that for a resumption of rally, the FBM KLCI must swiftly reclaim key resistances at 1,605–1,632 levels as a failure to do so will reignite another round of downleg towards 1,526 zones.

“Moreover, last week’s decisive breakdown of a Head-and-Shoulder (H&S) neckline support could be damaging as accelerating selling spree may push KLCI to break below 1,526 to as low as 1474 (worst case scenario for H&S downside objective) before commencing a more solid recovery,” it said.