KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): The FBM KLCI surged 2.23% at mid-morning today, lifted by gains at heavyweights including Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI jumped 37.67 points to 1,684.82.

The top gainers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Genting Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, IHH Helthcare Bhd and Maxis Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Sumatec Resources Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, TH Heavy Engineering Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd and AirAsia Bhd.

The decliners included United Plantations Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, IJM Plantations Bhd and Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks hit a three-week high on Thursday after a jump in oil prices lifted Wall Street, with many investors taking last-minute positions ahead of a crucial US Federal Reserve policy announcement, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, hitting its highest level in three weeks while Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.4%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said since sinking to a 3½ low of 1,504 on Aug 24, the FBM KLCI staged a strong 9.5% rally to end at 1,647 on Sept 15.

“While stocks could rise further on technical perspective, a sustained recovery in buying momentum will likely to be capped near 1,687 (76.4% FR) zones.

“Short-term key supports are revised upwards to 1,600–1,624 levels,” 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.)