KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI went the opposite direction from major Asian markets as it extended its rebound for a second day.
CIMB and Axiata led the morning advance, with the two heavyweights adding more than 2.5 points to the index in total.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 4.38 points to 1,675.66 on an active trading day, which saw RM2.21 billion shares exchanging hands for RM1.11bil.
There were 421 decliners versus 322 advancers and 347 counters unchanged.
Axiata, which had slid for three straights days, finally halted its decline and rebounded 11 sen to RM4.17.
CIMB grew eight sen to RM5.45, which returns it to last Thursday's levels, before the Friday's selloff in global equities.
Another KLCI heavyweight on the rise was Public Bank, gaining 10 sen to RM24.50 while KL Kepong added 20 sen to RM25.
Stocks seeing the most trading action were Sapura Energy
adding 1.5 sen to 34 sen, Perdana Petroleum gaining 10 sen to 40 sen and KNM adding one sen to 11.5 sen.
On the regional scene, stock indices came under pressure as the global rebound came to a halt and worries over a no-deal Brexit gripped markets.
The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.4% lower while the blue chip CSI 300 dropped 0.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.6% while Japan's Nikkei was the biggest loser with a 1.2% fall. South Korea's Kospi followed with a 0.8% slide.
Oil prices fared better than equities as planned cuts to Saudi exports and reduced forecast for US crude output boosted sentiment.
US crude rose 30 cents to US$57.17 a barrel and Brent crude grew 21 cents to US$66.88 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit slid 0.2% against the US dollar to 4.09110 and 0.% against the Singapore dollar at 3.0155.
It rose 0.8% against the pound sterling at 5.3551 following UK lawmakers' rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's EU exit plan last night.
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