KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): The FBM KLCI gained 0.48% at the midday break today, but the broader market demonstrated some pullback as decliners edged advancers.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose 8.82 points to 1,861.09. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,865.75.

Losers edged gainers by 247 to 227, while 521 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 884.6 million shares valued at RM739.91 million.

The top gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Negri Sembilan Oil Palms Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

The actives included Borneo Oil Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, PUC Bhd, SKH Consortium Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.

The losers included Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd.

Asian shares edged higher on Friday, after US equities were buoyed by solid quarterly earnings and a rebound in technology stocks, while the euro languished near three-month lows after the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.4%, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said regional markets were expected to edge higher today after the selloff on tech stocks subsided.

It said that historically, April used to be a bullish month for the equity market globally.

"As such, markets might try to play catch up with two more days left. Stocks in Bursa Malaysia expected to rebound after recent pullback, with the FBM KLCI Index anticipated to re-test recent high [of] 1,895.18.

"Sentiments in local bourse remains bullish thus it is wise for investors to accumulate quality stocks on dip," it said.