KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): The FBM KLCI rose 0.32% in early trade this morning, tracking gains at the regional markets.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI rose 5.57 points to 1,742.41.

The gainers included KESM Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Lion Forest Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and iCapital Biz Bhd.

Asian equities got some much needed relief on Wednesday after upbeat U.S. earnings reports drove a rebound on Wall Street and helped restore a little confidence in emerging market stocks and currencies, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei leaped out of the gates with an early rise of 1.3 percent, but still has a long way to go to recoup the past week's losses, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said the current upbeat earnings could be short lived as concerns over trade discussions and geopolitical tensions issues could resurface after the corporate earnings season and that could pose further downside risk to the stock markets.

“Hence, the Dow’s upside could be limited around 26,000.

“In the local front, we noticed buying interest was milder compared to the selling activities last week as market participants could be staying sidelines ahead of the 11MP midterm review and the lacklustre tone could persist over the near term.

“The KLCI’s trading range will be located within 1,725-1,750,” it said.