KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI maintained a strong lead at midday as investors bought up bargains following the September equities rout.
Global investor sentiment also improved as Britain scrapped a controversial tax cut for the country's wealthy, which had battered the Sterling and thrown financial markets into turmoil.
At 12.30pm, Malaysia's benchmark index was up 9.7 points to 1,407.32. The market breadth was 454 gainers compared with 244 decliners.
Trading volume was 940.95 million shares valued at RM601.78mil.
Bank continued to lead gains on the market with Maybank rising six sen to RM8.66, Public Bank gaining five sen to RM4.20, CIMB putting on eight sen to RM5.20, Hong Leong Bank adding 22 sen to RM20.74 and RHB climbing seven sen to RM5.67.
Telcos also moved higher amid expectations that the sector would soon move forward with a single wholesale network model for the roll out of the country 5G network. Maxis gained four sen to RM3.55, Digi added four sen to RM3.50 and Axiata was up one sen to RM2.66.
Meanwhile, other top gainers on the market included MAHB rising 17 sen to RM5.67, PETRONAS Dagangan adding 70 sen to RM21.40, Hap Seng rising 12 sen to RM6.12 and Carlsberg putting on 26 sen to RM22.68.
Top actives included PT Resources up 0.5 sen to 46 sen, Citaglobal gaining two sen to 26 sen and Cypark rising one sen to 44 sen.
Meanwhile, regional trading remained subdued owing to national holidays in China and Hong Kong.
However, major markets that were open for trading picked up on the global optimism. Japan's Nikkei rose 2.9% to 26,973 and South Korea's Kospi gained 2.5% to 2,208.
Australia's ASX200 meanwhile surged 3.6% to 6,686 as the central bank announced a smaller-than-expected interest rate hike of 25 basis points, which whet investor appetite for equities.
