KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): The FBM KLCI rose 2.95 points or 0.2% to 1,773.96 points with Asian shares after the overnight uptick in US equities. World shares rose after the US Federal Reserve indicated it may postpone interest rate hikes until policymakers get a clearer picture on the economy.

Slower US interest rate hikes bode well for Asian markets like Malaysia in anticipation of foreign demand for Asian assets, which yield higher returns.

Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.36% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8%.

At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI pared gains at 5pm after reaching its intraday high at 1,782.54 points. Etiqa Insurance & Takaful research head Chris Eng said the KLCI pared gains due to spillover effects from the selldown in European stock markets.

"The (Malaysian share market) selldown is not really localised; it coincides with the selldown in the European markets, at around 3.55pm today," Eng said.

Reuters reported that European shares opened higher, but quickly dipped into negative territory. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was last down 0.3%, led lower by resources companies after a 4% drop in iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.

In Malaysia, Eng told theedgemarkets.com that investor sentiment might have been subdued by the sudden selldown in European markets prompting more selling later in the day despite an overall encouraging financial results by companies, such as index-linked Malayan Banking Bhd.

Bursa Malaysia saw 2.95 billion shares valued at RM3.17 billion traded. There were 377 gainers against 590 decliners.

Newly-listed Inta Bina Group Bhd shares added 5.5 sen to 30.5 sen with some 126 million units traded. Inta Bina, which was listed at 25 sen a share, was Bursa Malaysia's second most-active stock.