KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): The FBM KLCI rose 0.75% at the midday break in line with the gains and looked set to aim for the 1,650-point level.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 12.33 points to 1,641.13.

The top gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Panasonic Malaysia Manufacturing Bhd, Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and LTKM Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included The Media Shoppe Bhd, Instacom Group Bhd, China Stationery Ltd Bhd, XOX Bhd and AirAsia Bhd.

The top losers included Rapid Synergy Bhd, TAHPS Group Bhd, Guinness Anchor Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, P.I.E. Industrial Bhd and SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd.

Asian stocks rose early on Monday after the prospect of an imminent interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve faded after Friday's weaker-than-expected US employment data, according to Reuters.

US stock indexes jumped over 1% on Friday as worries about the economy after the disappointing jobs report gave way to a robust rally in energy and materials stocks, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that given the increased expectations of delayed US interest rates hike, the FBM KLCI may advance further in the near term in anticipation of renewed inflows of foreign funds and mild recovery in ringgit, supported by bottoming up slow stochastic and MACD indicators.

"Key resistance levels are 1,636–1,670 whilst supports fall on 1,595–1,606," 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.)