FBM KLCI leads gains in Asia with 2% rally

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue-chip index leapt over 2% in the early session - leading the Asian rally - as jubilant investors bought up equities in light of the US-China tariffs deal, which serves as a significant de-escalation of the trade feud between the two nations.

As the market halted trading for the lunch break, the FBM KLCI was up 31.56 points or 2.04% to 1,578.06.

The rally was broad-based going by the 2.45-to-1 ratio of advancing issues to decliners. Volume was 2.62 billion shares changing hands for RM2.23bil.

Among the 30 constituent stocks of the FBM KLCI, only My DIY was a laggard, slipping three sen to RM1.67.

Bank shares jumped, with Maybank gaining 31 sen to RM10.20, CIMB rising 38 sen to RM7.25, Hong Leong Bank adding 24 sen to RM20.18, Public Bank putting on six sen to RM4.50 and RHB climbing 13 sen to RM6.80.

The top traded share on the market was Inari Amertron, rising 27 sen to RM2.21 after 60.6 million shares done.

Meanwhile, a morning rally lifted Asian markets with Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.92% to 38,366 and Singapore's Straits Times gaining 0.43% to 3,892.

China's composite index was up 0.1% to 3,371, representing a conservative gain following the previous day's strong rally.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng, meanwhile, was mostly flat at 23,156 as profit-taking pressure had already begun on the market.