KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI started on a flattish note as investors searched for direction amid a lack of trading leads.

According to Kenanga Investment Bank Research, the index is expected to move sideways with a slight downward bias.

With no key events scheduled for this week, investors could still be in the profit-taking mood for now, it said.

"While its upside could be restricted by a descending trendline and the 50-day SMA line, it remains to be seen if the intermediate double-bottom pattern will hold for the benchmark index on the way down

"Our major support and resistance levels for the FBMKLCI are kept at 1,475 / 1,445 and 1,510 / 1,550, respectively," it added.

At 9.03am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.14 points to 1,500.44.

Top traded stocks were Technodex up 1.5 sen, Iris flat at 31 sen and MLab unchanged at 2.5 sen

Asian markets were set to rise at the open, tracking US futures, as hopes rose that US President Donald Trump could be discharged from hospital later in the day, easing poilitical uncertainty that gripped Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.4% while Australia's ASX2.2 leapt 2.2% and South Korea's Kospi was up 0.5%.

China's market meanwhile remained shuttered for its Golden Week Holiday.