KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): The FBM KLCI rose 0.36% at mid-morning today to stay firmly above the 1,600-point level, lifted by select blue chips.

At 10.03am, the FBM KLCI rose 5.83 points to 1,610.53.

Gainers led losers by 298 to 190, while 267 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 644.23 million shares valued at RM247.34 million.

The gainers included United Plantations Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Cocoaland Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Eduspec Holdings Bhd, Green Packet Bhd, NetX Holdings Bhd, Iris Corp Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, APFT Bhd and Metronic Global Bhd.

The losers included Time Dotcom Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

Asian shares braced for more volatility on Thursday as eye-catching easings by central banks stoked fears of global recession, driving US yields to near-record lows and lifting gold past US$1,500 for the first time since 2013, according to Reuters.

Spot gold was last at US$1,503.56 per ounce, having risen as far as US$1,510. The precious metal has surged 16% since May as the worsening Sino-US trade dispute sparked a rush to safe havens, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that on Wall Street, follow-through buying interest is likely to follow suit on the back of the strong rebound.

"In the meantime, as the trade discussion is set to resume in September, market participants will still be monitoring closely the news headlines on the trade war as it may generate huge market volatility in the near term.

"Currently, we expect short-term upward bias move on the Dow to revisit resistance along 26,300-26,500.

"Taking cues from the strong overnight rebound on Wall Street, we expect the spillover buying interest may surface on stocks on the local exchange.

"However, we believe the rebound move may be limited amid the uncertain developments on the trade war between the US and China, in turn capping the upside move on KLCI. The KLCI's resistance is located around 1,621-1,640," it said.