KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): The FBM KLCI tioked up in early trade this morning, lifted by gains at select blue chips including IHH Healthcare Bdh and Genting.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI rose 3.48 points to 1,716.93.

The early gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Thong Guan Industries Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, IHH Healthcare, Genting, Padini Holdings Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd.

Stocks in Asia slipped Thursday following a topsy-turvy U.S. session that saw shares finish flat, giving no fresh impetus to a global equity rally that’s losing steam. Treasury yields retreated after rising Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

Equities posted modest losses in Japan, Australia and South Korea. Sentiment was partly dampened as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer dialed back expectations for a sweeping trade deal with China, while traders attention switched to Michael Cohen, the president’s former attorney, who said that President Donald Trump committed crimes while in office, in a hotly contested House hearing. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers that he’ll soon announce a plan to stop shrinking the central bank’s $4 trillion balance sheet. The dollar steadied and the yen ticked higher, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian shares mixed as investors awaited the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam.

It said on the local front, the FBM KLCI slipped 5.55 points (-0.32%) to close at 1,713.00 in tandem with negative market breadth with 481 bears outnumbered 364 bulls while 383 counters traded unchanged.

“We believe the overall longer-term technical outlook of the index is still positive given that the index has decisively broken above its 100-day SMA even though the index may see some short-term retracement or consolidation.

“Continued buying momentum could see the index trend higher to its resistances at 1,780 (R1) and 1,800 (R2),” it said.