FBM KLCI bounces higher on bank, oil counters

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended the morning session higher after bouncing back from mild losses earlier in the day.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 4.13 points to 1,587.35 on the back of financial heavyweights as investors looked forward to the reopning of the country's borders on April 1.

Maybank jumped six sen to RM8.94, CIMB rose four sen to RM5.37, and Hong Leong Bank gained four sen to RM20.20.

Petronas Gas meanwhile climbed 18 sen to RM16.72 while Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM9.60.

Top gainers on the broader market included Yinson up 27 sen to RM4.81, MPI adding 18 sen to RM16.72 and BoxPak rising 15 sen ot RM1.35.

Most active counters were Metronic up one sen to 2.5 sen, CapitaLand adding 1.5 sen to 73.5 sen and SMTrack gaining 0.5 sen to eight sen.

Meanwhile, most major Asian markets were weighed down by the decline on Wall Street overnight.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.2%, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4% and China's composite index slid 0.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.8% while Australia's ASX200 rose 0.1%.