KUALA LUMPUR: The local market was bullish in Monday morning trade as investors' risk appetite returned to emerging markets on optimismthe US-China negotiations were yielding results.
The ringgit also gained against the US dollar as funds flowed out of the safe haven amid easing anxiety over the economy.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 3.2 points to 1,633.36. Turnover was 1.8 billion shares valued at RM752.19mil. There were 318 advancers versus 411 decliners and 345 counters unchanged.
Telcos were led higher by Maxis, which rose seven sen to RM5.58 while Axiata added three sen to RM4.18 and Digi gained one sen to RM4.73.
Banks were mixed as Maybank fell two sen to RM9.25 and Public Bank dropped two sen to RM22.58 while CIMB added two sen to RM5.08 and Hong Leong Bank rose six sen to RM20.10.
Among the most active counters were Eduspec adding one sen to four sen, Sapura Energy
was down 0.5 sen to 34 sen and Seacera dipped one sen to 31 sen.
Last Friday, Wall Street surged on a positive start to the earnings season led by JPMorgan & Chase while strong Chinese export and bank loans data improved the outlook on global growth.
Coupled with positive comments by Washington on the ongoing trade talks, Asian markets were in a buoyant mood.
In China markets, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1% and the CSI 300 Index added 1.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.6%.
Japan's Nikkei Index climbed 1.5% while South Korea's Kospi added 0.5%.
Oil prices slipped on Monday after hitting a five-month high in the previous session, althoug prices remained supported by global supply cuts.
US crude fell 28 cents to US63.61 a barrel and Brent crude dipped 16 cents to US$71.39 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit was 0.1% higher against the greenback at 4.1119. It fell 0.1% against the pound sterling at 5.3843 and was little changed against the Singapore dollar at 3.0395.
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