KUALA LUMPUR (May 10): The FBM KLCI ticked up in early trade Friday, taking cue from regional markets, lifted by select blue chips.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI  added 1.19 points to 1,619.72.

The early gainers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Guan Chong Bhd, QL Resources Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, IOI Corp Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd and SP Setia Bhd.

Asian shares climbed with U.S. equity futures as the U.S. and China continued a pivotal round of trade negotiations. The yuan remains near its weakest since January, according to Bloomberg.

Shares in Japan and South Korea rose, while futures indicated a rebound in China, with hours to go before Washington ratchets up tariffs. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index ticked up after the benchmark pared losses on Wall Street into the close on Thursday. President Donald Trump said he received a “beautiful letter” from President Xi Jinping and the two leaders would probably speak by phone. Sentiment remains fragile, though, and the gap between 3-month and 10-year Treasury yields briefly turned negative, traditionally a recession warning. Elsewhere, crude oil rose, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian stocks declined as investors remained cautious after President Trump claimed China "broke the deal" in the ongoing trade negotiations.

It said back home, the FBMKLCI declined 15.02 points or 0.92% to close at 1,618.53.

“We observed that the index has been in a consolidation phase for the past few weeks and that the primary downtrend of the index is still intact as all shorter-term SMAs are trading below longer-term SMAs.

“However, the recently announced rate cut by BNM could be the much-needed catalyst to spur the market.

“Should the index break above the 100-day SMA (1,668), this could be an early sign of a potential reversal. We look towards 1,660 (R1), where a break above would see it head towards the 1,700 (R2) level, while on the downside, support levels can be identified at 1,615 (S1) and 1,600 (S2),” it said.