Malaysia Hot Stocks-Market seen edging higher on Wall St

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks are
expected to notch up their fifth straight gain on Monday after
a surge in U.S. share prices, but concerns over record
crude-oil prices should keep the market on a tight leash,
brokers said.

Oil-and-gas firms are expected to be among the day's
gainers after crude prices hit a record high of $117 a barrel
on Friday.

MISC (MISC.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which makes offshore oil rigs, is likely to
be in sharp focus after a weekend report that it and
conglomerate Sime Darby (SIME.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) had won $640 million in
contracts to build oil platforms for state oil firm Petronas.

Petronas owns a controlling stake in MISC, which is also
the world's largest owner of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
tankers.

"The market will probably open positive but it won't be up
by more than 20-30 points," said a dealer with a local
brokerage.

On Friday, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index
.KLSE rose 0.88 percent to close at 1,267.65 points.

Support is seen at 1,240 and resistance at 1,280.

The April futures index KLIJ8 put the index at 1,269.0
points. The May futures KLIK8 stood at 1,264.0.

Plantation stocks, which also include Sime Darby, should
also be in focus, after Malaysian crude palm-oil futures fell
2.2 percent on Friday, as indications of a supply build-up and
the rapidly appreciating ringgit prompted investors to cash in.

Market analysts expect local profits to take a beating when
firms report their first-quarter results next month, as record
crude-oil prices push up costs across the board and eat into
profit margins, the Edge Financial Daily said on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks surged on Friday as Internet leader
Google and heavy equipment maker Caterpillar reported profits
that defied Wall Street's modest expectations.

Citigroup also fuelled a rally that pushed the Dow to its
best week since February as investors took comfort that the No.
1 U.S. bank was taking aggressive steps to resolve credit
problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 1.81 percent
to 12,849.36 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX
1.81 percent to 1,390.33 and the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC
2.61 percent to 2,402.97. For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500
each ended up 4.3 percent and the Nasdaq closed 4.9 percent
higher.
(Reporting by Mark Bendeich and Jalil Hamid; Editing by Tomasz
Janowski)