KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at mid-morning but stayed above the 1,710-point level.

At 10.01am, the FBM KLCI was up 7.72 points at 1,712.81. The index had earlier climbed to 1,717.49.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Oriental Interest Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery (M) Holdings Bhd, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included The Media Shoppe Bhd, XiDeLang Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd, Aemulus Holdings Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd and Brahim’s.

The top decliners included IJM Plantations Bhd, Pharmaniaga Holdings Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, Ornapaper Bhd and Yee Lee Corporation Bhd.

Asia extended a global stocks rally on Friday after the European Central Bank signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus, helping the dollar scale a fresh two-month peak against the euro, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6%, on track for a modest weekly loss of about 0.1%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said the FBM KLCI may get a lift this morning from the overnight rallies in US and Europe markets amid prospects of further QEs.

However, it said sentiment will turn cautious in the afternoon as all eyes will focus on the tabling of Malaysia Budget 2016 today at 4pm.

“Key supports are 1,686–1,700 whilst key upside hurdles are 1,729–1,740,” 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.)