KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia rebounded on Thursday after the US equities market was spurred on by comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell that cleared up some of the uncertainty surrounding its rate hike plans.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI climbed 10.71 points to 1,608.81 to reclaim the 1,600-point psychological level.

       Powell in comments to congress overnight had said US economic growth was expected to be able to withstand future rate hikes, affirming the strength of the ongoing economic recovery.

       The thee major US stock indices closed higher in the range of 1.6% to 1.9% as the Fed chair said a 25bps rate hike would likely take place in March, less aggressive than the 50bps some had expected.

       On the Malaysian bourse, banks and commodities plays continued to rally on the back of the ongoing surge in energy prices.

       Maybank rose seven sen to RM9.01, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.43 and CIMB bounced 10 sen to RM5.13.

       Petronas Chemicals extended its climb by 11 sen to RM9.88 while Press Metal gained six sen to RM7.13.

       Plantations counter Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 16 sen to RM27.56 while sector peers Sime Darby Plantation rose two sen to RM5.24 and IOI rose three sen to RM4.64.

       "We believe the key index is likely to hold its gains on the back of the sharp rebound on Wall Street overnight following the US Federal Reserve supporting smaller rate hikes going forward, surging crude oil prices after a global agreement to release crude reserves failed to calm fears over supply disruptions, and likelihood for Bank Negara to hold the interest rate until end-June," said Malacca Securities Research in a report.

       It added that the technical indices remained positive as the MACD histogram extended a positive bar while the RSI hovered above the 50 level.