KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): The FBM KLCI reversed its earlier losses at mid-morning and looked set to test the 1,670-point level.

At 10.01am, the FBM KLCI rose 1.72 points to 1,664.23.

The top gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Uzma Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd, Deleum Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included AirAsia Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd, XOX Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd and Instacom Group Bhd.

The losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Genting Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, MISC Bhd, Lay Hong Bhd, My E.G. Services Bhd and Pharmaniaga Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks held firm on Wednesday as a sharp rebound in oil prices supported battered resource shares and emerging economy currencies, while Japanese markets were tentative ahead of a crucial Bank of Japan policy meeting, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2%, led by a 0.4% rise in South Korea. Japan's Nikkei was almost flat ahead of the Bank of Japan policy announcement later in the day, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said the FBM KLCI may enjoy further advance towards 1,670–1,687 zones amid feel good factors from potential delay in Fed’s liftoff to 1Q16, pre-budget rally and recovery in ringgit and commodities prices.

“Critical resistance at 1,670–1,687 as success would signal breakout from sideway triangle pattern while failure means trap in sideway consolidation,” 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.)