KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): The FBM KLCI rose 1.52% at mid-morning to remain above the 1,400-point threshold as regional markets advanced amid initiatives to reboot the US economy.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 21.45 points to 1,407.98.

Gainers led losers by 585 to 116, while 258 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.65 billion shares valued at RM653.36 million.

The gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and British American Tobacco (M) Bhd.

The actives included mTouche Technology Bhd, XOX Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd, Lambo Group Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and Hubline Bhd.

The decliners were led by Malaysia-listed Hang Seng Index-linked put warrants.

Bloomberg reported that Asian stocks rose with US and European futures amid tentative steps to restart the American economy and progress on the fight against the coronavirus. Treasuries fell with the US dollar.

Shares saw strong gains across the region, while contracts on the S&P 500 jumped over 3%. President Donald Trump outlined plans for the reopening and investors assessed a report that Gilead Sciences Inc is seeing improvements in coronavirus sufferers taking its drug. Treasury yields advanced, while oil fluctuated around US$20 a barrel. Gold slipped, though the yen strengthened against the greenback, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said in wake of a strong rally of more than 700 points on Dow futures, as at 8am in the US, after tentative steps to restart the American economy and progress in the fight against the coronavirus, KLCI could continue to work its way to retest the 1,400 points barrier, barring a decisive breakdown below the 10D SMA support near 1,363.

“Overnight strong performance of US-led technology stocks is likely to spur some trading interests on local technology players,” it said.