KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI made up for the disappointing previous session by pushing higher on Thursday, despite other Asian markets taking a breather from an extended rally.
Regional investors were seen taking a pause from the buying spurred by the success of recent trade talks while they awaited new leads.
Chinese markets were slightly higher after a weak start although Japan's Nikkei sat firmly in the red with a 1.2% decline.
The FBM KLCI bucked the trend once again, growing 8.76 points to 1,676.69 in the morning session. Trading volume was 2.18 billion shares valued at RM1.23bil. There were 437 gainers versus 325 decliners and 317 counters unchanged.
From a technical standpoint, the index continued to face downwards pressure from the 50-day simple moving average, a crossing of which would signal an improvement in sentiment.
Maxis was the leading contributor to the index with an 18 sen increase to RM5.64 while Tenaga Nasional grew 20 sen to RM13.68 and MISC climbed 22 sen to RM6.45.
Petronas Chemicals, which led the decline yesterday due to a ratings downgrade, rebounded seven sen to RM8.62.
Some notable decliners included Hong Leong Bank, sliding 18 sen to RM20.52; PPB, dropping six sen to RM17.22; and Hap Seng, falling three sen to RM9.78.
Top Glove continued its slide for the ninth straight session, losing five sen to RM4.75.
Top active counters were Bumi Armada
up 0.5 sen to 16 sen, Sapura Energy gaining 0.5 sen to 30.5 sen and VS Industry gaining 10 sen to 85 sen.
Oil prices took a step back from its rally on Thursday as US supply continued to swell. US crude shed 56 cents to US51.80 a barrel while Brent crude dropped 5 cents to US$60.88 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit rose 0.4% against the US dollar to 4.0970. It rose 0.3% against the pound sterling to 5.2377 and was little changed against the Singapore dollar at 3.0326.
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