KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia climbed higher at midday as broader market sentiment was positive and select index-linked stocks lifted.
At lunch break, the FBM KLCI climbed 8.14 points, or 0.55% to 1,498.71, buoyed by gains in telco, banking and Petronas-linked stocks.
Turnover was 1.53 billion shares valued at RM833.95mil. There were 476 gainers compared to 252 decliners.
“Given the market treated Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as non-event, we believe the sentiment will recover along with the regional peers following the sharp gains in the US triggered by robust economic data and stronger corporate earnings,” Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said.
On commodities, the research house said the crude oil price continued to fall, trading below US$100 per barrel, while the crude palm oil (CPO) price dropped and traded around RM3,800.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd reckoned the FBM KLCI is in good stead and is expected to trend higher today to re-test the 1,500 mark and beyond.
It added that a rebound in vegetable oil prices helped push crude palm oil higher to RM3,864 per tonne while the Brent crude slumped to below US$97 a barrel on higher inventory build-up.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
rose 96 sen to RM32.66, Nestle added 50 sen to RM134.80, ViTrox gained 37 sen to RM7.77 and F&N advanced 28 sen to RM22.22.
Chin Teck Plantations fell 19 sen to RM9.20, Kotra Industries lost 17 sen to RM4.02, Carlsberg shed 14 sen to RM22.74 and Panasonic Manufacturing declined 12 sen to RM26.26.
Among the banks, Maybank rose four sen to RM8.87, Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.60, CIMB gained two sen to RM5.25, RHB Bank climbed two sen to RM5.87 and Hong Leong Bank added eight sen to RM20.88.
