KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse continued to retrace losses it had made earlier in the week as fears over Italy subsided and bargain hunters picked up cheap valuations.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was 15.44 points higher at 1,756.06. Turnover was 1.83 billion share with a value of RM1.26bil. There were 429 advancers versus 371 decliners and 367 counters unchanged.
Maybank lifted the index with a 29 sen gain to RM9.95. CIMB rose 20 sen to RM6.10 and Public Bank added 16 sen to RM24.02.
Petronas Chemicals advanced eight sen to RM8.13 while Genting put on 11 sen to RM8.90 and Genting Malaysia added seven sen to RM5.05.
Sime Darby Plantation
slipped 11 sen to RM5.43, Hong Leong Bank lost 16 sen to RM19.02 and Nestle dropped RM1 to RM147.
On the broader market, Time dotCom rose 51 sen to RM8.01 on the back of a positive financial result announced yesterday.
Allianz gained 34 sen to RM13.36 and Carlsberg put on 22 sen to RM20.08.
Sliding in morning trade, Padini lost 28 sen to RM5.46, Aoen Credit dropped 20 sen to RM14.60 and Press Metal Aluminium fell 14 sen to RM4.57.
Oil prices continued to be pressured by rising production and expectations of OPEC boosting output.
WTI crude dropped 18 cents to US$66.86 a barrel while Brent crude slipped nine cents to US$77.47 a barrel.
On the forex market, the ringgit was 0.1% lower against the greenback at 3.9840. It was 0.4% stronger against the pound sterling at 5.2840 and marginally higher against the Singapore dollar at 2.9750.
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