KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains but remained above the 1,500-point psychological level as index-linked stocks held firm.

       For the day, the benchmark index gained 7.71 points or 0.52% to finish at 1,504.44. It had earlier risen to a high of 1,514.52.

       Losers trounced gainers by 654 to 433, while 407 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was brisk at 4.58 billion shares valued at RM3.09bil.

       Among the gainers, Genetec surged RM1.60 to RM27, Kumpulan H & L High-Tech jumped 51 sen to RM5.10, Widetech rose 44 sen to RM4.04 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 26 sen to RM19.60.

       MPI, Pecca, KESM and Rapid are among the top losers on Bursa Malaysia.

       Among the banks, Maybank added three sen to RM8.03, Public Bank closed unchanged at RM3.96, CIMB climbed six sen to RM4.58, Hong Leong Bank gained two sen to RM18.24 and RHB Bank rose four sen to RM5.27.

       Genting fell six sen to RM4.67, Genting Malaysia shed four sen to RM2.78, Digi lost two sen to RM4.28 and Axiata declined one sen to RM3.81.

       Reuters reported that oil edged towards US$71 a barrel on Wednesday as signs of rising fuel demand in the US offset concerns about travel curbs in Asia caused by the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

       Brent crude added 27 cents to US$70.90 a barrel while US crude oil was up 23 cents to US$68.52 per barrel.

       On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.65% to 28,070.51, its first close above 28,000 since July 16.

       South Korea’s Kospi fell 22.57 points, or 0.70%, to 3,220.62 as of 06:30.

       Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.2%, to 26,660.16.

       China’s CSI300 index fell 0.6% to 5,015.34 while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1% to 3,532.62 points.