KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): The FBM KLCI rose 5.84 points or 0.3%, tracking Asian share gains after the European Central Bank (ECB) hinted more stimulus to sustain the region's economy.

Reuters reported that Asia extended a global stock rally on Friday after the ECB signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus, helping the dollar scale a fresh two-month peak against the euro.

In Malaysia, the KLCI closed at 1,710.93 points at 5pm. Across the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 2.11%, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.86% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.34%.

JF Apex analyst Lee Cherng Wee told theedgemarkets.com that the KLCI's rise was attributed more to external factors, rather than local ones such as the Budget 2016 announcement.

"The market's performance is likely driven more by external factors, such as the stronger performance from the US markets, and the hint from the ECB that more stimulus was on the way.

"Given the minimal increase in market points today, I don't think the tabling of the budget today had much impact on investor sentiment," Lee said.

Bursa Malaysia saw 2.42 billion shares valued at RM2.005 billion traded. There were 525 gainers against 318 decliners.

Top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. Major decliners included put warrants linked to the Hang Seng index.

The most-actively traded stock was XOX Bhd.

In currency markets, the ringgit strengthened to 4.2382 against the US dollar at 4.59pm. Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit was firmer at 3.0469.

Reuters reported that emerging Asian currencies rose on Friday as risk assets rallied with the ECB's signal on more stimulus, while most regional units were set to report weekly losses on worries about a slowing Chinese economy.

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