KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's main index ended the early session higher as investors latched on to hints from the US President that he was ready to make a deal with China.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 8.08 points to 1,494.33, jovering below the 1,500 psychological level as investors remained cautious over the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and China.
Nevertheless, the relief rally swept over the domestic market, which registered an advancing issue to declining ratio of 1.84-to-1.
Turnover on the market was light with 1.73 billion shares transacted for RM906.29mil.
Amid the pickup in shares, key heavyweights included PPB rising 20 sen to RM11.90, Hong Leong Bank jumping 16 sen to RM19.70 and PETRONAS Chemicals gaining 12 sen to RM3.20.
Key Asian markets were also buoyed by the lift in sentiment. Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt 2.41% to 22,081, followed by Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.95% to 34,887.
Singapore's Straits Times added 1.01% to 3,833. China's composite index was little changed at 3,301.
Wall Street is also expected to open higher as the optimism over an end to the trade war sent investors on a buying spree.
S&P 500 futures were up 1.5% at the time of writing while the Nasdaq had gained 1.8%.
