KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI rebounded in the late morning session after an earlier selldown as global equities slid further on growing unease over the global economic outlook.
At midday, Shanghai's Composite Index had lost 1% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei was 1.4% in the red.
Back home, Tenaga Nasional helped to prop up the market, which was broadly lower, as the KLCI heavyweight rose 36 sen to RM13.18.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI gained 4.39 points to 1,654.95. On a slow trading day, turnover was 847.31 million shares valued at RM481.95mil. There were 375 declining counters versus 251 gainers and 307 unchanged.
On the leading end of gainers, IHH retraced some of the losses from the previous session, adding 10 sen to RM5.32.
Banks were mostly higher with Public Bank putting on two sen to RM24.68, CIMB climbing six sen to RM5.71 and RHB adding two sen to RM5.26 while Hong Leong Bank shed two sen to RM20.28
Among plantation counters, KL Kepong rose 22 sen to RM24.24, IOI added three sen to RM4.22 and Sime Darby Plantation
edged one sen lower to RM4.35.
On the back foot, Nestle slid 50 sen to RM146.50, Maxis shed four sen to RM5.21 and Digi dropped five sen to RM4.27.
On the broader market, Aeon Credit pushed 20 sen higher to RM15.04 on positive earnings results.
Active gainers included Sapura Energy rising 0.5 sen to 29.5 sen, Bumi Armada adding 0.5 sen to 15.5 sen and Prestariang gaining 0.5 sen to 35.5 sen.
Oil markets recovered some ground after a steep 5% decline in the previous session. WTI crude rose 37 cents to US$46.25 a barrel while Brent crude added 33 cents to US$54.68 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit was little changed against the US dollar at 4.1792. It rose 0.15% against the pound sterling at 5.2877 and was unmoved against the Singapore dollar at 3.0528.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
