KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): The main index at Bursa Malaysia gained 0.34% in early trade Tuesday on bargain hunting, while home furniture manufacturer Mobilia Holdings Bhd made an impressive start on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia and was both the most actively traded and top gaining stock in early trade.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI gained 5.32 points to 1,575.78.

The early gainers included Mobilia, Khind Bhd, Pimpinan Ehsan Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

Meanwhile, Mobilia rose 51.5 sen to 74.5 sen with 80.32 million shares traded.

Bloomberg said Asian stocks inched lower Tuesday and US equity futures pared gains as investors assessed expectations for faster growth and inflation that drove up commodities and bond yields.

Rakuten Trade said volatility reigned on Wall Street as sentiments became jittery amid rising yields.

It said the US 10-year Treasury yield touched a 12-month high instigating a sell-off amongst growth stocks especially those within the technology sector.

The research house said the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 27 points higher to above 31,500 after trending within a 400-point range while the Nasdaq lost 2.5%.

“Nonetheless, we expect regional markets to stage a mild rebound today following yesterday’s dismal performance.

“On the local front, we reckon the FBM KLCI to also see a rebound of sorts following the extension of suspension in intra-day short selling activities till Aug 29.

“In view of this, we believe the benchmark index to possibly trend within the 1,580/90 range today.

“Crude oil prices resume with its uptrend as the Brent crude again [hovers] above the US$65/barrel,” it said.