KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI found its support above the key level of 1,850 in the previous session, paving the way for a rebound on Thursday morning.
This came as better-than-expected Wall Street earnings and a positive performance overnight helped Asian stocks recover from the recent selldown.
At 12.30pm, the local benchmark index was up 5.72 points to 1,857.65. Trading volume was 1.17 billion shares worth RM813.58mil. There were 432 advancers compared to 268 decliners and 335 counters unchanged.
Maybank topped the list of gainers on the KLCI, rising 12 sen to RM10.70 while other banks also moved higher. Public Bank put on four sen to RM8.20, CIMB gained three sen to RM7.20, and Hong Leong Bank moved up four sen to RM18.88.
In plantations, Sime Darby Plantation
added seven sen to RM5.57, PPB rose two sen to RM19.20, IOI put on three sen to RM4.78 and KL Kepong moved four sen higher to RM25.52.
Bucking the positive trend, Nestle chalked up more losses following its sharp pullback in the previous session, losing a further RM2.40 to RM136.70.
In a Thursday report, Kenanga Research maintained an underperform call on the stock as it said the positives have already been factored into its rich valuations.
Meanwhile, telco Axiata dipped one sen to RM5.20 while Maxis slipped two sen to RM5.80. Digi, however, rose 14 sen to RM4.63.
On the broader market, Top Glove grew 31 sen to RM9.32, F&N gained 38 sen to RM35.56 and Carlsberg rose 16 sen to RM19.40.
On the decline, Caely dropped 11 sen to RM1.01, Aeon Credit fell 10 sen to RM5.20 and Allianz slipped 18 sen to RM11.72.
Renewed expectations that the US will impose sanctions on Iran as soon as May drove oil prices higher, with Brent fast approaching the US$75 a barrel mark.
WTI crude was up 35 cents to US$68.41 a barrel while Brent crude rose 45 cents to US$74.45 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit continued to weaken against the rallying US dollar, slipping back a quarter percent to 3.9213. It also slipped 0.14% against the pound sterling at 5.4670 and 0.16% against the Singapore dollar at 2.9535.
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