KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 3): The main index of Bursa Malaysia rose 0.79% in the mid-morning today, tracking regional markets on the back of the overnight rally on Wall Street.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI had risen 12.54 points to 1,593.03.

Gainers led losers by 489 to 340, while 359 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.53 billion shares valued at RM1.02 billion.

The top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, UWC Bhd, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Greatech Technology Bhd, Toyo Ventures Holdings Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd and Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Iris Corp Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX), JF Technology Bhd and Avillion Bhd.

The decliners included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), Batu Kawan Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, JF Technology, Boustead Holdings Bhd and Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd.

Reuters said Asian markets moved higher during early trading as governments around the world looked poised to boost spending to help economies recover from the coronavirus and vaccine roll-out programmes accelerated.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.34%.

JF Apex Research said US stocks rallied for the second day yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 475 points for its best day since November.

Meanwhile, it said the S&P 500 climbed 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 1.5% amid corporate earnings announcements.

The research house said that similarly, European stocks closed higher amid investor optimism for a post-pandemic recovery, while fears over a speculative retail trading frenzy in the US waned.

“On the local market, the KLCI rose 14.09 points or 0.9% to 1,580.49 points.

“Following the bullish momentum on Wall Street, the KLCI could extend its rebound towards the resistance at 1,615 points,” it said.