KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at the midday break Monday, but held on to remain firmly above the 1,420 resistance level.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 1.46% or 20.58 points to 1,427.92. The index had earlier climbed to a high of 1,428.95.

Gainers led losers by 548 to 159, while 537 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was a robust 3.59 billion shares valued at RM1.67 billion.

Among the leading gainers were Malayan Banking Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Genting Bhd while other advancing stocks included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and United Plantations Bhd.

The actives included AirAsia X Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, Vortex Consolidated Bhd, Minetech Resources Bhd, MCT Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd and Ekovest Bhd.

The decliners included ViTrox Corp Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd, Concrete Engineering Products Bhd, Far East Corp Bhd and Teck Guan Perdana Bhd.

Reuters said most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with Malaysia leading gains, as China, the region's prime trading partner, cut a key interest rate and promised more measures to prop up an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

China cut its benchmark lending rate by 20 basis points to 3.85% on expected lines and said it would roll out additional policies to prevent short-term economic shocks from becoming long-term stagnation trends, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian stocks finished higher last Friday, as investors were upbeat on China’s better-than-expected GDP numbers.

It said back home, the FBM KLCI rose 20.81 points or 1.5% to finish at 1,407.34.

“Chart-wise, the index looks to be in the midst of testing its 50-day SMA. Coupled with a bullish MACD signal, we may see a continuation of the recent intermittent technical rebounds from its previous oversold position.

“On the chart, we have increased our resistance-turned-support levels to 1,400 (S1) and 1,360 (S2).

“With the index closing above our previous resistance level of 1,400, we have now raised our resistance levels to 1,420 (R1) and 1,485 (R2),” it said.