KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): The FBM KLCI advanced at mid-morning but struggled to breach the 1,760-point level.

At 9.57am, the FBM KLCI gained 3.98 points to 1,758.90.

The gainers included DanaInfra Nasional Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity), Nestle (M) Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Genting Bhd and Pos Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included IWCity, MLABS Systems Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, GD Express Carrier Bhd, Johan Holdings Bhd, Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd and Dataprep Holdings Bhd.

The losers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Prestariang Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, DKSH Holdings (M) Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, Hai-O Enterprise Bhd and Perak Corp Bhd.

The US dollar stayed on the defensive on Wednesday as investors wagered any further tightening in the United States would be slow at best, while optimism on China's economy underpinned Asian shares and commodities, according to Reuters.

The US currency was near multi-month lows after the collapse of the Republicans' push to overhaul healthcare dealt a blow to President Donald Trump's ability to pass promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders' brief today said the inability to push through the healthcare legislation may also post difficulties on passing Trump's pro-growth policies such as the corporate tax reform.

"Hence, the upside of the Dow may be capped near the 21,600-21,800 levels over the near term.

"Meanwhile, shares on the local bourse could sustain the recent trading momentum after overall market volumes have picked up.

"Also, trading focus may shift towards the small-to-mid cap stocks following the resurfacing of Bandar Malaysia news in the media and may slow down the trading interest on ACE market stocks, which were actively traded last week," it said.