KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): The FBM KLCI rose 0.45% in early trade on Monday in line with the advance at most global markets, but gains were seen limited given the year-end as well as Christmas holiday season.

At 9.01am, the FBM KLCI rose 7.86 points to 1,723.85.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, MISC Bhd, Coastal Contracts Bhd and Boustead Holdings Bhd.

Asian shares and the dollar began a holiday-shortened week on a strong footing on Monday, with the euro testing two-year lows against the greenback on divergent monetary policy expectations, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei stock average was up 0.4 percent ahead of a Japanese holiday on Tuesday, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview Monday said U.S. stocks rose for a third session on last Friday, with the S&P 500 tallying its second best week in nearly two years.

Meanwhile, it said European shares closed mixed, with Italian banking stocks and the health care sector weighing on wider benchmarks.

The research house said that on the local market, the FBM KLCI surged 16.04 points or 0.94% to 1715.99 points on last Friday.

“We expect the local bourse to sustain its rebound today on better global sentiment and rebound of oil price, albeit with anticipated thin volume for this week as investors are away for year-end holiday.

“The benchmark index could well consolidate above 1700 points for this week as investors will watch closely for the upcoming slew of Japan data which include inflation, household spending, jobs numbers and retail sales for the month of November, and sustainability of oil price rebound for further buying spree,” it said.