KUALA LUMPUR (March 21): The FBM KLCI rose 0.24% in early trade Thursday, in line with the gains at most regional markets.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI  was up 4.04 points to 1,688.25.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, PPb Group Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd and Magni-Tech Industries Bhd.

Shares in Asia rose on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a more accommodative stance at its policy meeting, but concerns over slowing global growth and U.S.-China trade talks are expected to limit gains, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5 percent in early trade. Australian shares were last down 0.1 percent, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said Wall Street may form a short term rebound as traders focused on the Fed’s dovish stance in the monetary policies, supporting equity prices.

“However, the trimming of global growth forecast is likely to dampen the treasury yields, and should the yield curve inverts; it may cap the upside of banking heavyweights and limits the upside potential on Wall Street.

“Under this uncertain environment across the region, we anticipate trading activities to slow down; the FBM KLCI could further consolidate below the 1,700.

“Sentiment on the small cap and lower liners are likely to trend sideways as investors will continue to book in profits after an overheated market last week.

“Hence, traders may look out for stocks under construction as they are bashed down earlier on, while investors may look into consumer stocks under this cautious market environment,” it said.