KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27): The FBM KLCI rose 2.95 points or 0.2%, tracking Asian share gains following an overnight rise in US equities.

At 9:03am today, the KLCI was traded at 1,629.61 points. At 9:25am, the index added 12.84 points to 1,639.50.

Across Asian share markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.64% while South Korea's Kospi was 1.4% higher.

Overnight, Bloomberg reported that US stocks rallied, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its strongest gain in more than seven weeks, amid better-than-forecast earnings from companies ranging from 3M Co to Coach Inc while energy shares rebounded with oil after a selloff Monday.

Today, crude oil prices, however, fell on profit taking. Reuters reported that US crude oil futures dropped more than 3% in Asian trading on Wednesday to test the US$30 a barrel level again, as profit taking wiped out most of the gains seen in the previous session linked to hopes for output cuts.

US crude lost 88 cents at US$30.57 a barrel as of 2321 GMT after hitting a session-low of US$30.30 a barrel.

In Malaysia, JF Apex Securities Bhd said it had a cautious outlook on Malaysian shares against a backdrop of volatile crude oil prices.

"The FBM KLCI started the year in a bearish way after oil prices plunged to US$30 a barrel and sharp declines in China’s stock markets triggered the circuit breaker twice within a week.

"Over a medium to long term outlook, we are cautious on the FBM KLCI performance as it still treads below the 100- and 200-day moving averages at 1,650 and 1,700 points respectively," JF Apex wrote in a note today.

At Bursa Malaysia, some 62 million shares worth RM23 million changed hands. There were 207 gainers versus 39 decliners.

Top gainers included Top Glove Corp Bhd and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd while United Plantations Bhd led decliners. Most-active was The Media Shoppe Bhd.

(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.)