KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): The main index at Bursa Malaysia ticked up in early trade Monday, against the backdrop of firmer regional markets.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.61 points to 1,579.24.

The early gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Genetec Technology Bhd, Techbond Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd and UWC Bhd.

Bloomberg said U.S. equity futures began the week on the front foot after climbing to a record last week, as investors monitored comments from Janet Yellen pushing a stimulus bill as well as an improvement in coronavirus trends.

The dollar steadied after Friday’s slide, it said.

Rakuten Trade said worse than expected job data has prompted fresh hopes of more stimulus package as Wall Street closed at new highs last Friday.

It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 92 points higher to almost at 31,150 whilst both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at record high again.

“On the local front, we reckon volatility to again dominate trading as the FBM KLCI again experienced late selling last Friday.

“Nonetheless, we reckon some stability for the market today as both of our largest exports in crude palm oil (CPO) and crude oil saw prices hitting solid levels.

“The CPO is closing in to the RM4,000/metric tonnes while the Brent crude is now within touching distance of US$60/barrel.

“Barring the volatility of glove counters, we would expect the benchmark index to test the 1,590 level today,” it said.