KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): The FBM KLCI rose 1.17 points or 0.1%, tracking Asian share gains, after China’s Dec exports fell less than expected.
 
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,642.54 points. Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.88%, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.34%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 1.13% higher.
 
Reuters reported Asian shares made their first real rally of the year on Wednesday, after Chinese trade data handily beat expectations, offering a rare shaft of light for the global economy.

The Asian giant reported exports dipped 1.4% in U.S. dollar terms in December, when analysts had looked for a drop of 8.0%. A 4.0% fall in imports was also much smaller than many had feared.

"China's trade data support our view that, despite the turmoil in financial markets, there has not been a major deterioration in its economy," Daniel Martin, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, was quoted as saying in a research note.

Across Bursa Malaysia, 1.93 billion shares, worth RM1.89 billion, were traded.

The bourse saw 459 gainers and 371 decliners, while 362 stocks remained unchanged.

Top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, while Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd led decliners.

Tiger Synergy Bhd was the most actively-traded counter, with some 61 million shares traded.

(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.)