KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was slightly higher at midday as a rebound in Axiata shares halted the decline seen over the previous session.
Malaysia's industrial index figures for July, which were released at noon, showed a 1.2% expansion, below the expectations of a Bloomberg forecast of a 3.1% increase. At 12.30pm, the local index was up 1.18 points to 1,597.03.
Trading volume was 1.32 billion shares valued at RM772.74mil. There were 312 gainers versus 336 decliners and 377 counters unchanged. The wider market held steady on Wednesday as trade fears diminished owing to the restarting of trade talks between the US and China in October.